14. Central and Eastern Europe Flashcards
What mountain range cover much of Austria?
The Alps
Only the lower hills and plains of the eastern part of the country are suitable for viticulture.
The majority of Austria’s vineyard land lies in which three eastern states?
Niederosterreich, Burgenland, Steiermark
What is the climate of eastern Austria, where grapes are grown?
Cool Continental
Similar to Baden, which lies to the west on the same latitude.
What is the approximate split between red wine and white wine production in Austria?
1/3 red
2/3 white
Austria’s signature grape variety is:
Gruener Veltliner
Other key white grapes include:
Welschriesling
Muller-Thurgau
Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc)
Riesling
Chardonnay (known here as Morillon)
The second most widely planter grape is Zweigelt (cross between Blaufrankisch and St. Laurent)
Other key red grapes include:
Blaufrankisch
St. Laurent
What is the most widely planted red grape of Austria?
Zweigelt
Zwigelt is a cross between Blaufrankisch and St. Laurent.
Medium body, cherry flavors, peppery finish.
Other key red grapes include:
Blaufrankisch
St. Laurent (similar to Pinot Noir)
Spatburgunder
Portugeiser
Merlot
Which grape is a cross between St. Laurent and Blaufrankisch?
Zweigelt
This is Austria’s most prominent red.
What is Chardonnay known as in Austria?
Morillon
Muller Thurgau is a cross between:
Riesling and Madeline Royale
What is Morilllon?
Chardonnay in Austria
In the US, Brix is used to measure must weight (sugar). In Germany, they use the Oechsle system. What is the name of the system used in Austria?
KMW
Klosterneuburger Mostwaage
1 degree KMW = about 1.2 Brix, about 5 Oechsle
Describe the classification system used for Austrian wines:
Wein
Landwein – PGI Level
Qualitatswein, Pradikatswein, Districtus Austriae Controllatus (DAC) – PDO Level
Wein: May not carry a place of origin other than Osterreich (Austria)
Landwein: Must reflect one of three regions: Weinland Osterreich, Steierland, Bergland
PDO: Account for 2/3 of Austria’s total wine production
What is a wine region in Austria referred to as?
Weinbaugebeit
What does DAC refer to in Austria?
DAC = Districtus Austriae Controllatus
These are classified grape growing regions, considered the highest level of quality in Austria.
Specifications include:
Varietal
Alcohol levels
Aging
Wines produced within these areas that don’t meet the established standards must be labeled with a more generic area.
What is the highest quality designation used for Austria?
DAC
Districtus Austria Contrallatus
Austria - like Germany - uses the Qualitatswein and Pradikatswein terms to refer to PDO level wines. What is one main difference between the definitions in Austria vs Germany?
In Austria, Kabinett is wines are a subset of Qualitatswein instead of Pradikatswein.
The Austrian Pradikatswein also includes guidelines for a dried grape wine known as Strohwein.
Austrian Pradikatswein includes a term for dried grapes wine, what is this term?
Strohwein
What is Strohwein?
An additional guideline in the Austrian Pradikatswein system noting use of dried grapes.
What is Bergwein?
Wine produced from grapes grown on excessively steep hillsides (26 degrees+).
“Mountain Wine”
The largest winegrowing region - both by acreage and volume - in Austria is:_______________.
Niederosterreich
The Danube river flows through this region, and is the home for much of the vineyard land.
What is the name of the river that flows through the Niederosterreich region?
The Danube
What is the largest subregion of the Niederstoetterich?
The Weinviertel DAC
Wines of the Weinviertel DAC must be 100% Gruner Veltliner.
Wines of the Weinviertel must be: ____________________________________.
100% Gruner Veltliner.
In which DAC of Austria must wines be 100% Gruner Veltiner?
Weinviertel DAC.
This is the largest subregion of the Niederosterreich.
What is the name of the lake in Burgenland which creates ideal conditions for the development of Botrytis?
Lake Neusiedl
This is the largest closed basin lake in Europe.
Where is Lake Neusiedl?
In the Burgenland region of Austria. It is the largest closed basin lake in Europe.
It creates ideal conditions for the development of Botrytis in its proximate vineyards.
The Mittelburgenland DAC and Eisenberg DAC both produce spicy red wines from which key grape?
Blaufrankisch
What is a Blaufrankisch wine like?
Typically full body, deep color, spicy aroma reds.
Is Ruster Ausbruch a dry, off dry, or sweet wine?
Sweet
Ruster Ausbruch is one of the most famous wines of Austria. Lake Neusiedl provides the conditions needed for botrytis, there are specific KMW requirements for harvest (30 degrees KMW) - equivalent to TBA levels.
What is the name of the most southern wine producing region in Austria?
Steiermark
This is a mountainous area with a slightly warmer climate than the rest of Austria. Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay are among the leading varieties.
Steiermark produces less than 10% of Austria’s wine.
Sudsteiermark DAC is part of which larger wine region?
Austria’s Steiermark, the most southernly, warmest region of the country.
Which subregion of the Steiermark region of Austria is noted for vastly different soils throughout?
Sudsteiermark DAC
Soils in the flatter region are largely marine sediment. Soils in the or mountainous regions are marl and conglomerate soils.
What type of soil is the Vulkanland Steiermark DAC noted for?
Volcanic soils. This sets this subregion apart from the other wine growing regions of Austria
Where is Schilche Rose produced?
In the Weststeiermark DAC, a sub region of the Steiermark region of Austria.
Produced from the red Blauer Wildbacher grape variety.
What are the four wine growing regions of Austria?
Niederosterreich
Burgenland
Steiermark
Wein (Vienna)
What is unique about the Gemischter Salz DAC of the Wein region of Austria?
These wines are made from several different white grapes which are grown, harvested, and fermented together.
Must be a minimum of 3 types of grapes but may include all 15 allowed grapes of the DAC. No more than 50% of the blend can come from a single grape variety.
What region in Austria produces white wine blends, where the grapes must be grown, harvested, and fermented together?
Wiener Gemischter Satz DAC
15 varieties are approved for use here and may all be found in the same blend. No more than 50% of the blend can come from a single wine - and the wine must include at least 3 of the 15 allowed varieties.
Is Hungary producing a majority of red or white wine?
White. More than 70% of total production in Hungary is white.
What does the Aszu refer to in a Tokaji Aszu of Hungary?
Aszu = Botrytis
What are the two key grapes of Tokaji Aszu?
Furmint and Harslevelu
How is Tokaji Aszu made?
Begins with botrytis affected grapes, largely Furmint and Harslevelu. These grapes are mashed into a paste and mixed with an already fermented base wine. The wine is then racked and aged, where a protective yeast film (similar to Flor) develops.
What is the Harslevelu grape noted for?
A blending partner to Furmint for Tokaji Aszu wines.
Eszencia (Essencia) is a sweet wine made from free run juice of hand selected botrytis grapes, noted from which country?
Hungary
This wine often takes years to ferment to even 5-6% alcohol.
Which international grape variety came from Croatia, known originally as Crljenak Kastelanski?
Crjlenak Kastenlanski - also known as Tribidrag - was renamed to Zinfandel as it made its way to the US. And is known as Primitivo in Italy.
The most widely grown white grape variety of Croatia is ________________, known elsewhere as Welchriesling.
Grasevina
White wine accounts for 2/3 of total production in Croatia.
Grasevina is Croatia’s highest volume white grape. What is this grape known as outside of Croatia?
Welchriesling
Describe the two broad wine growing regions of Croatia in terms of climate and geographic influences.
Coastal Region (330 miles of Adriatic Sea coastline)
Mediterranean with maritime influences in the south
This is the home for higher quality wine.
Inland Region
More continental, most wine is white and consumed locally
Why is Swiss wine rarely exported?
Demand for wine in Switzerland is 3x production.
The value of the Swiss franc make wine prohibitively expensive.
The leading white grape of Switzerland is:
Chasselas (also known as Fendant)
Chasselas is the leading white grape of which country?
Switzerland
Chasselas is also known as Fendant.
Describe the general climate of Romania, and its key geographical features relevant to wine making.
Continental climate
Moderated by the Black Sea and Danube river - and the Carpathian mountains.
Where is the Tarnave DOC?
The Tarnave DOC is Romania’s oldest appellation. It is in the center of the country surrounding the Carpathian Mountains.
The Contari DOC produces sweet wines. True or False?
True
The Contari DOC produces sweet wines in the Moldovan Hills, near the eastern border of Romania.
What are the key white and red grapes of Romania?
White:
Feteasca Alba
Feteasca Regala
Red:
Feteasca Neagra
Describe the profile of Feseasca Alba and Feteasca Regala wines of Romania.
Light, aromatic wines
Varying levels of sweetness.
Describe the profile of a Feseasca Neagra wine of Romania.
Feteasca Negra is the flagship red variety of the country. (Though Pinot Noir is through to the be the leading red grape for the export market).
Feteasca Neagra is a grape that has the ability to produce really good wines with notes of plum, blackberries, vanilla, cinnamon and pepper that are well balanced and can age well.
True or False:
Most of Bulgaria’s wine production is based on indigenous grapes, intended for domestic consumption.
False
The majority of Bulgaria’s wine production is made from international grape varieties and intended for export.
Describe the climate and key geographical features of Bulgaria.
Temperate continental climate
Diverse topography. North = flatter areas of the Danube plain. Southern = higher/elevated plains.
Black Sea coastline on the east has moderating maritime influences.
Which countries border Bulgaria to the north and the south?
North: Romania
South: Greece
Rkatsiteli and Dimiat are the two most planted _______ grapes across Bulgaria.
(Red or White)
White
Rkatsiteli and Dimiat are common white grapes across Eastern Europe.
Where is Slovenia?
Northeastern corner of the Adriatic Sea.
Borders Italy to the east. Austria to the North. Hungary to the West. Croatia to the South.
Described as being at the “cross roads of Europe’s wine culture”.
What are the PDO and PGI designations of Slovenia?
PGI: Zasciteno Geografsko Oznacbo ZGO
PDO: Zasciteno Oznacbo Porekla - ZOP
Three ZGOs
14 ZOPs
What are the three key wine regions (ZGOs) for Slovenia?
Podravje: Inland, east, largest
Primorska: Coast, across from Venice, shared border with Fruili
Posavje: Southeast, bordering Croatia. Smallest and most traditional region.
Are white or red wines more dominant in Slovenia?
White wines
What is the name of the Slovenian wine region that borders Italy, and therefore has significant Italian influence?
Primorska
White grapes grown in Fruili - including Tai (Friuliano) and Ribolla Gialla are also grown in Primorska.
What is the name for the egg shaped, earthenware wine vessel believed to have originated in Georgia?
Kvevris
What is a Kvevris?
Egg shaped, clay wine vessels hailing from the country of Georgia.
Is Georgia part of the EU?
No
Which wine producing country discussed in the chapter on Central and Eastern Europe is not currently a part of the EU?
Georgia
The most widely grown grape variety - of either color - in Georgia is: _______________.
Rkatsiteli
Rkatsiteli make slight, foral, crisp white wines.
What is the leading red grape of Georgia?
Saperavi
Rkatsiteli is the predominant white grape of Eastern Europe.
True or False.
True
Crimea is cited for it’s popular: ________________.
Sparkling Wines
Where is the Novy Svet Winery located?
Crimea
What is the Novy Svet Winery famous for?
Winning the Grand Prix de Champagne at the 1900 Worlds Fair in Paris with its “Brut Paradiso” wine.
Etalita is a fortied wine made in which country?
Crimea
What is Egri Bikaver?
A Hungarian red wine made from Kardarka grapes. It translates to “Bull’s Blood of Eger”.
There is an Egri Bikaver Superior as well which requires that at least five grape varieties be used in the blend.
What is a key difference between Egri Bikaver wine and Egri Bikaver Superior wine?
The regulations for Egri Bikaver Superior require the use of at least 5 grape varieties in the blend.
(Well known Hungarian red wine.)
