12. Austria

Question 1

What is the climate in Austria? How is it characterised?

Answer 1

Climate

• Cool Continental climate - Short summer & harsh winter

​Location

Alps cover the west of the country, so wine producing area is in the east, closer to Pannonian plain along Danube

• North (Weinviertel) infl by cool northerly wind
• South (Steiermark) closer to Adriatic Sea – warmer.(hail)
• East (Burgenland) near to Hungarian border infl by warm Pannonian climate.
• West (vy on the Danube) may exp cool breezes from Alps

Hazards

• Spring frost, occasional damage in cold winters
• Hail in Steiermark
• Low rain years – result in water stress in some regions (esp with free draining soils) – irrig may be reqd.

Question 2

Describe typical vineyard mgt in Austria

Answer 2

VY Mgt

• Past: Lenz Moser syst -trained high, wide rows avoid shade. Pop for hivol prod + mech vy mgt
• Modern:Guyot (repl cane) with VSP – hiQ.
• Machine harvesting -flatter lands (Weinviertel /Burgenland)
• Wachau, Kremstal, Kamptal – steep stone terraces – vy work is by hand – adds cost (labour est at 3 – 5 x viticulture on flatter land.

Rainfall

• moderate (450mm – 850mm)
• low in the growing season esp around Weinviertel (irrig may be reqd)
• ..but Disease pressure low >> faciltiates organc/sust practices

Yields

• Legal max 67.5 hl/ha
• Ave yield – 49 hl/ha ~ focus on hiQ not bulk

Soil

• Two main types:
  
  • rock (granite, gneiss, crystalline bedrock material aka Urgestein
  • Richer soils e.g. loess
  • Other – limestone and schist (e.g. Leithaberg hills); volcanic material e.g. Steiermark/Kamptal.
• Riesling planted on thin soils >> drainage / rocky, granite
• Grüner Veltliner needs more water >> loess/clay

Question 3

Name the important river (and its 3 tributaries) that flows through Austria’s main wine-growing regions:

Answer 3

Danube River

Krems, Kamp and Traisen Rivers

Question 4

Describe winemaking in Austria and the market structure.

Answer 4

Winemaking

Whites : typ aim – preserve prim fruit/variety char of wine

• Short period skin contact – aroma and flavour
• Ferm in neutral vessel, temp control – del & vol aromas
• Typical ferm to dry
• GV and Ries – typ no malo c, because it is difficult to achieve in low PH and also to retain var char & fresh acidity.
• Store in old wood / SS, some prod leave wine on fine lees – 6m or longer to add texture.

Red:

• Ferm large open-top vessels, punch down/pump over.
• Some prod use ambient yeast
• Store in SS or mature in old oak 300 – 600l orlarger to soften tann without extract oak flav.
• Few prem wines aged in barriques (prop new)
• Some prod choose acacia vats over oak to give micro O2 without vanilla flavours
• WM experimenting with techniques: prolonged skin contact / ferm and age in amphorae.

Wine Business

• Highly fragmented
• >50% wine sold local hosp sector of which “Heurigen” (small inns) play nb role
• 2/3 of all wine purchased in the retail sector is domestic
• Scandal led to sign reduction in bulk wine exports (less than 10k litres in 2018)
• Export: 20% primarly to DE (50%) vol + val; CH; USA
• Austrian Wine Board promotes

Question 5

What are the 3 main white grapes grown in Austria?

White grapes account for ___% of plantings in Austria.

Answer 5

32% Grüner Veltliner

• Clay/loess > GV needs water
• Vigorous can mgt to prod ripe grapes
• Skin thick contact > phenolic/ bitter taste.
  
  • Skins contain rotundone ~ pepper aroma typical of GV esp Wein1/4
• Wine:
  
  • Simple: citrus/green fruit, a/g Q, inexp
  • Complex: pron citrus/peach complex aromas and flavours, can be aged, vg/os prem price.
    
    • Dry - m+/h acid, m/m+ body typically not oaked
  • “Reserve” = min 13% abv, some oak age, and/or noble R (rich & comp) BUT wines still dry

Welschriesling

• Declining pop for simply dry style of wine (neutral grape) a/g Q, inexp
• In Burgenland near humid Neusiedlersee region - thin skin can be affected by noble rot – used for sweet styles (BA, TBA)

Riesling 4% of plantings but highly prized

• Mainly Niederösterreich, where it is 2nd most planted white grape var.
• Planted on warmest sites, thin soils (needs less water than GV to thrive.)
• Generally dry style, hi acid, m alc, full body, ripe stone and sometimes trop fruit – acid+fruit allows them to improve 10-20 years dev nutty, honey, petrol notes. Typically VG/OS, prem price.

Question 6

What are the main black grapes grown in Austria?

Answer 6

Black Varieties

• 14% Zweigelt
• Cross - Sankt Laurent+Blaufranksich
• Ripens earlier, easier than Blaufrankisch
• Hi yield + vigorous > can mgt, leaf removal for q fruit
  
  • Potassium deficiency – grapes wither before ripe > reduced yield.
• Wine:.
  
  • Simple easy drinking, fruity unoaked / min oak
    
    • m+ acid, m tann, red fruit (cherry) dom flavours a/g, inexp – mid price
  • Ageworthy, oaked styles (12m) of vg Q prem price
    
    • H acid, m tann, m body, red & black/dried fruit, able to dev in bottle.
• Also used in Sekt (neutral aromatics)

Notable prod: Leithaberg DAC; Mittelburgenland DAC

Blaufrankisch ~ Burgenland

Buds early (frost) – Ripens late (needs warm climate to fully ripen – i.e. Burgenland. Thick skin > not prone to rot (nb around humid Neusiedlersee Hi yielding – can mgt to ensure ripening and avoid “green aromas” Wines:

• Simple: fruit, no oak, g, mid price
• O/S Q : pron bloack fruit, spicy oak, hi tann, prem price
• m+/h tann, hi acid, deep col and black fruit.

Question 7

Explain Austrian Wine Law

Answer 7

Austrian Wine Law mix of the typical German and the Roman law (DAC)

Per EU PDo/PGI

• “Wein” – no GI
• “Landwein” – PGI (protected graphical indication
• Wein+Landwein ~10% all prod.
• Qualitätswein (incl Prädikatswein) make up remainder.
  
  • Gov inspection - Q stds,& insp no on label (same as DE)
  • “Klassik” – vintage +var char
  • “Reserve” – dry, min 13% abv, released later than std wines.
  • Qualiteitswein (15 KMW) can be presented as “Kabinett” (17 KMW) (note - excluded from Prädikatswein in AT)

Qualiteitswein has a higher category - “Prädikat” levels (following Must weight)

• Spätlese - 19 kmw
• Auslese – 21 kmw
• Beerenauslese – 25 kmw
• Eiswein – 25kmw
• Strohwein / Schilfwein – 25 kmw (3m drying on straw before vinification)

Trockenbeerenauslese 30 kmw – if from Rust, Lake Neusiedlersee> label ‘Ausbruch’.

KMW “ Klosterneuburg Must Weight scale) 1 kmw = 5 öchsle

Question 8

Additional style of Prädikat not found in Germany (1)

another style synonym for TBA

Answer 8

Ausbruch

Strohwein / Schilfwein

Question 9

Within Austria wine law, what is a ‘DAC’ and what does it stand for?

What is their focus / goal?

Answer 9

Districtus Austriae Controllatus (DAC) (“Regionally Typical Qualitätswein”)

Appellation system -promote regional typicity.

• Only DAC wines may display origin on label e.g. Weinviertel or Kamptal (non-qualifiers would need to use Niederösterreich)
• There are 15 DAC regions

To use this label

• only specific var are allowed in each DAC – to ensure regional typicity and profile maintained
  
  • This means some “new wave” wines would not be eligible for DAC status even if hiQ.
• Like AOC France or DOCG Italy, DAC letters do not guarantee quality rather typicity.
• Only wines that comply with the above can use the DAC Name on the label.

DAC wines have option to use Q hierarchy that distinguishes reional (Gebietswein) , village (Ortswein) and single vy wine (Riedenwein)

Question 10

What are the 4 federal states for PDO wines?

Answer 10

Niederösterreich (Lower Austria)

Burgenland

Steiermark (Styria)

Wien (Vienna)

Question 11

Describe the Niederosterreich PDO

Answer 11

Niederösterreich

• 2/3 white, 50% of it GV
• Incl many AT most fam vy
• 3 sub regions
  
  • Weinviertel,
  • West of Vienna: Wachau, Kremstal, Kamptal, Wagram
  • Pannonian plain, South West

Question 12

Describe the Weinviertel

Answer 12

• Largest, region, low rain - irrig
• _50% GV DAC_
• Cool breeze from N (hi diurnal) >>GV very peppery (wind)
• “Reserve” style
• Notable prod: Sohm & Kracher

Question 13

Describe Wachau

Answer 13

Wachau

• Steep stone terraces, best s-f sunlight interception
• Stone radiates heat at night >>ripening
• Riesling on gneiss; and GV on loess.
• Low rain -irrig needed
• Smaragd > tropical notes (warmth)

All Wachau = DAC > mb hand harvest

• DAC S VY only GV / Ries
• No oak for the whites

Regional & Village wines – a range of var

• Single VY – only Riesling or GV
• All DAC must be harvested by hand

Wachau assoc of producers =Vinea Wachau,

• have classified single VY based on soil, climate (VY may be on label)
• have trademarked 3 diff classification of dry white wine (less than 9g/l RS), aimed to help indicate style/Q:
  
  • Steinfeder – fruity, dry, max 11.5%abc
  • Federspiel – More conc, dry, 11.5% - 12.5% abv
  • Smaragd – highly conc, dry, ripe fruit flav, min 12.5%abv

Region dominated by family estates,

• sign prod: F X Pichler, Franz Hirtzberger.
• Home to large co-op Domäne Wachau

.

Question 14

Describe the region named for the vast shallow lake in the North of Burgenland that is key for sweet wine production?

Answer 14

Nieusiedlersee - sweet wines, BBR conditions

• White: Welschriesling (botrytised) and GV
• Black: Zweigelt, Blaufränkish, St Laurent, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cab Sauv
• VY flat, warm, lake warm
• Noble rot every vintage>> aut temp drop, lake warm >> fog, pm sun burns away esp WRies susc
• Away from lake warm > black var
• . Dry reds – from Zweigelt or blends of Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch
• Nieusiedlersee DAC is for red, Zweigelt
  
  • DAC Klassik – mb 100% Zweigelt, little/no oak
  • DAC Reserve - min 60% Zweigelt + Blaufrankisch, PN, Sankt Laurent usually oak mat
• Sweet wines labelled “Burgenland”
• Sweet, hi acid, noble rot aromas – marmalade, not usually oaked.
• Hand harvest, many weeks, prem price, VG/ OS Q
• Sign Prod : Krutzler (Red)
• Alois Kracher (TBA)