Austria Flashcards
What is the climate of Austria?
Cool continental climate
Describe the typical soil types in Austria?
The two major soil types are thin soils over rock (granite or gneiss) and richer soils like loess
Explain what kind of soil Riesling is usually planted.
Riesling tends to be planted on thinner soils as it doesn’t require as much water as Grüner Veltliner.
Explain what kind of soil Grüner Veltliner is usually planted.
Grüner Veltliner tends to be planted on soils with a high water holding capacity such as loess or clay.
The height in meters vines were often trained at using the Lenz Moser system. Is the training system for high or low volume production?
1.2 -1.4, high volume
The percentage of Austrian vineyards certified as sustainable
9 %
The percentage of Austrian vineyards following organic or biodynamic practices
14%
The percentage plantings of Gruner Veltliner across Austria
32%
The maximum yields per hectare for all Austrian vineyards
67.5%
What are the top planted varieties in Austria?
- Gruner Veltliner
- Zweigelt
- Welschriesling
- Blaufrankisch
- Riesling
What are the characteristics of Gruner Veltliner?
- Usually have medium (+) to high acidity and are typically not oaked.
- simple with citrus and green fruit aromas made for early drinking - acceptable to good quality and inexpensive price
- complex with pronounced citrus and peach fruit aromas, which can be aged in bottle - very good to outstanding quality and premium priced.
What are the characteristics of Welschriesling?
- Usually has high levels of acidity and can have somewhat neutral aromatics.
- Often made into fresh, neutral, unoaked, dry wines, of acceptable to good quality and inexpensive in price.
- Can be affected by noble rot, and then used for sweet wines production.
What are the characteristics of Riesling?
- Usually dry, can be full bodied,
- medium levels of alcohol,
- ripe stone fruit and sometimes tropical fruit flavours, with high levels of acidity.
- Ageworthy and can become nutty, honeyed and have petrol notes.
- Typically very good to outstanding in quality and command premium prices.
What are the characteristics of Zweigelt?
- Usually have medium (+) level of acidity with medium tannin levels.
- Red fruit, particularly cherry, dominate the flavours and aromas.
- Styles range from easy drinking, fruity unoaked wines that are acceptable to good quality and inexpensive to mid-priced,
- full bodied, oaked styles that have the possibility to age - very good quality and can command premium prices.
What are the characteristics of Blaufrankisch?
- Usually have medium (+) to high tannins,
- high levels of acidity,
- deep colour and black fruit flavours.
- Can produce some of Austria’s most age-worthy and intense red wines.
- The wines range from simple, fruity wines with little or no oak ageing, that are good in quality and mid-priced
- very good to outstanding wines with pronounced black fruit, spicy oak characters and high tannins that are premium priced.
What winemaking techniques are often used when making Austrian Riesling and Gruner Veltliner?
- Aging on the fine lees
- Fermentation in stainless steel
- Low fermentation temperatures
- Storage in old oak
- Short period of skin contact
- Storage in stainless steel
- Fermentation in old oak
What is the full name of the DAC?
Districtus Austriae Controllatus
What are the 3 categories of wine in Austria?
- Wein: Wine without Geographic Indication
- Landwein: wine with Protected Geographic Indication (PGI)
- Qualitatswein: Wine with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)
What does Klassik indicate?
Wines with a vintage declared and showing varietal character
What does Reserve indicate?
Dry wines with a minimum 13% abv, typically harvested and released later than the standard wines
What are the difference of Pradikat wines between Germany and Austria?
Austrian Kabinett does not fall into the Pradikatswein system. In addition, TBA wines from the city of Rust are labelled Ausbruch
What is the label term for “single vineyard wines”?
Riedenwein
What is the labelling term for “regional wines”?
Gebietswein
What is the labelling term of “village wines”?
Ortswein
What are the descriptions of the Vinea Wachau “Steinfeder”?
Fruity, dry wine, with a maximum of 11.5% abv., the lightest style
What are the descriptions of the Vinea Wachau “Federspiel”?
A more concentrated, dry wine with alcohol ranging from 11.5 - 12.5% abv
What are the descriptions of the Vinea Wachau “Smaragd”?
Typically a highly concentrated, dry wine, with ripe fruit flavors; minimum 12.5% abv
Which region only receives around 460mm of rain per year?
Wachau
Which region’s wines are almost always very good to outstanding in quality?
Wachau
Who are the significant producers of Kremstal?
Salomon Undhof and Lens Moser
Which region named after the river flowing through it?
Kamptal
This region surrounds the town of Langlois?
Kamptal
Who are the significant producers of Kamptal?
Brundlnayer and Hirsch
The area is know for wines from Roter Veltliner
Wagram
The largest appellation in Niedrosterreich and in Austria as a whole
Weinviertel
Ziefandler is a local speciality in what region?
Thermenregion
The most planted white grape is Neuburger in which region?
Themanregion
Compare Neusiedlersee and Leithaberg, Burgenland, noting how they differ but why both areas are suitable for the production of TBA wines.
Neusiedlersee vineyards are situated around the eastern shores of the shallow lake of the same name and this is the warmest area in Austria. The vineyards are flat, warm and mostly very humid. White grape varieties are planted closest to the lake and particularly Welschriesling, as botrytis is consistent each vintage making it possible to produce TBA wine. Vineyards furthest from the lake are not as humid and planted with black grape varieties.
Leithaberg is to the west of Neusiedlersee and a wide range of wine styles are produced. Humidity is high closest to the lake, making it suitable for noble rot to take hold in autumn and produce TBA wines. Further west from the lake, the humidity is less and therefore suitable for black grapes, Blaufränkisch accounts for 20% of plantings. The vineyards stretch into the Leithaberg hills were the diurnal range is enough to ensure acidity is retained during the cooler nights to produce refreshing wines.
What is the small inns or tavern called?
Herigen
What is Osterreichische Traditionsweiguter (OTW)?
Founded in 1992, OTW is a group of producers, based in the Kamptal, Kremstal, Wagram and Vienna, amongst other regions, who have been classifying their vineyards, in a similar fashion to Burgundy, based on soil type and climate. In 2019, 81 vineyards were selected Erste Lage
What is Vinea Wachau?
the name of a group of quality-minded producers based in Wachau that have classification systems for the wines of the region
Who are the significant producers of Wachau?
- FX Pichler
- Franz Hirtzberger
- Domaine Wachau (co-op)
What is the maximum residual sugar of Vinea Wachau?
9 g/l
When was Wachau able to label DAC?
from 2020, only Gruner Veltliner and Riesling
What are the DAC varieties in Kremstal?
Riesling or Gruner Veltliner
What are the cooling and warming influence in Kamptal?
Warm breeze from the Pannonian plain and cooling air from the Bohemian Massif
What are the DAC varieties of Kamptal?
Riesling and Gruner Veltliner
What is the DAC variety of Weinviertal?
Gruner Veltliner only
Which region is the warmest in Austria?
Neuriedlersee
What climatic condition will prevent from forming grey rot?
The warm autumn sunshine in the afternoon burns away the fog.
What is the DAC for TBW wines?
Ruster Ausbruch, in 2020
What is the variety of DAC Neusiedlersee red wines?
Zweigelt
Who are the significant producers of Neusiedlersee red wine and TBA sweet wines?
- Red: Krutzler
- TBA: Alois Kracher
What is the variety requirement for Leithaberg DAC Red wines?
- a min 85 % Blaufrankisch.
- must be aged in oak
