Austria Flashcards
How old is the Austrian wine industry and what happened early 1900s?
- Wine since the Bronze Age, influenced by Romans
- 10-12th century: Monks brought Burgundian wine culture (e.g., in Wachau)
- Early 1900s: Austrian wine laws were created
What happened in the mid-1970s and 1980s?
- Small number of large producers added diethylene glycol to their wines to increase volumes and simulate sweetness
- As a result, exports dropped from 30 to 5mn liters
What happened after the glycol scandal and where is Autrian wine today?
- 1985: Austrian Wine Marketing Board (AWMB) was established
- Market recovered
- Now: Consumers are willing to pay high prices for high quality Austrian wine
What is the general climate of Austria?
Cool continental
Describe how the climate in the north, south, east, and west is influenced
- North: Weinviertel is influenced by cool northerly winds
- South: Steiermark has warming influence from Adriatic
- East (near Hungarian border): Burgenland is influenced by warmer Pannonian climate
- West: Vineyards on the Danube may experience cooler breezes from the Alps
What are environmental risks?
- Spring frosts in many regions
- Hail in Steiermark
- Winter freeze (rarely, but in particular cold winters)
- Water stress in years with low rainfall
What are the two major soil types and what variety is mostly planted on each?
- Thin soils over rock (granite and gneiss) -> Riesling (needs less water than Grüner Veltliner)
- Richer soils, e.g., loess, sometimes clay -> Grüner Veltliner as it needs more water
What other soil types are found in Austria?
- Limestone
- Schist
- Gravel
- Volcanic material
What was the traditional training method in the 1980s and what is it today?
- 1980s: Lenz Moser
- Today: Single or double Guyot with VSP
What is the Lenz Moser training method and why was it used in the 1980s?
- Cordon Trained to 1.2-1.4m height (higher than other systems)
- Popular for high volume production
- Allows for mechanization: Low maintenance once established
Where is what type of harvest conducted?
- By machine: on flatter lands (e.g., Weinviertel, Burgenland)
- By hand: on terraced vineyards (e.g., Wachau, Kremstal, Kamptal)
What is the max yield? How much was it in reality in recent years?
- 67.5 hL/ha
- 49 hL/ha in recent years
What is the ratio of white and black varieties?
- 2/3 white
- 1/3 black
What are the 5 main varieties from most planted to least planted?
- Grüner Veltliner
- Zweigelt (red)
- Welschriesling
- Blaufränkisch (red)
- Riesling
What percentage of Austrian wine is planted to Grüner Veltliner and Zweigelt?
- Grüner Veltliner: 30%
- Zweigelt: 15%
What percent of Austrian vineyards are organic/sustainable?
- Organic: 14%
- Sustainable: 9%
Describe the characteristics of Grüner Veltliner (soil, vigor, skin)
- Not suited for dry soils -> clay and loess
- Canopy management necessary as it is vigorous on fertile soils
- Thick skin -> can lead to phenolic taste if too long on skins
- Skins contains rotundone -> peppery aroma
What is the typical style of Grüner Veltliner? (acidity, oak, aromas, quality, price)
- Medium (+) to high acidity
- Typically, no oak
- Range from simple citrus, green apple to peach and great complexity
- Range from acceptable to outstanding quality, inexpensive to premium priced
Describe the characteristics of Zweigelt (crossing, vigor, diseases)
- Crossing between St. Laurent and Blaufränkisch
- Vigorous -> canopy management necessary
- Potassium deficiency can lead to withering and lost crops
What is the typical style of Zweigelt? (acidity, tannin, aromas, oak, quality, price)
- Medium (+) acidity
- Medium tannins
- Red fruit, esp. cherry
- Unoaked or oaked
- Range from acceptable to very good, inexpensive to premium priced
What is the color and acidity of Welschriesling?
- White
- High acidity
What are the three styles of Welschriesling and where are they produced?
- Style 1, mainly in Steiermark: Fresh, neutral, dry, inexpensive
- Style 2, around Neusiedlersee: BA and TBA with high acidity and ageing potential, premium prices
- Style 3: Sekt production
Is Welschriesling related to Riesling?
No
Describe the characteristics of Blaufränkisch (budding/ripening, location, skin, vigor, quality)
- Early budding -> vulnerable to spring frost
- Late ripening -> needs warm climate
- Burgenland
- Thick skin -> not as susceptible to rot
- Vigorous -> canopy management
- Austria’s most age-worthy and intense red wines
What is the typical style of Blaufränkisch? (acidity, tannin, color, aromas, oak, quality, price)
- High acidity
- Medium (+) to high tannins
- Deep color and black fruit flavors
- Unoaked or oaked
- Range from good to outstanding quality, mid to premium priced
What are the best areas for Blaufränkisch?
- Leithaberg DAC
- Mittelburgenland DAC
In what temperatures and soils is Riesling planted?
- Warmest sites
- Shallow soil
In what region is Riesling mostly planted?
Niederösterreich
What is the typical style of Riesling? (sweetness, acidity, body, alcohol, aromas, ageing, quality, price)
- Dry
- High acidity
- Full-bodied
- Medium alcohol
- Ripe stone fruit and sometimes tropical fruit
- Ageing of 10-20 years possible, developing nutty, honeyed, petrol notes
- Very good to outstanding quality with premium prices
How are white wines generally made? (skin contact, vessels, malo, lees ageing)
- Protective winemaking
- Sometimes, short period of skin contact
- Neutral, temperature-controlled vessel (stainless steel or old oak)
- No malo
- Often longer lees contact for added texture
How are red wines generally made? (yeast, vessels)
- Some producers use ambient yeast
- Either stainless steel or old oak
- Premium wines in barriques with some proportion of new oak
What are some experiments in white and red wine making?
- Acacia vats (no vanilla)
- Longer skin contact
- Fermentation and ageing in amphorae
What are the three wine categories following EU terms?
- Wein – without geographic indication
- Landwein – PGI
- Qualitätswein – PDO
How much of the production is Qualitätswein?
90%
What are the categories within Qualitätswein?
- Klassik
- Reserve
- Prädikatswein
What are the requirements for the Qualitätswein category “Klassik”?
- Vintage dated
- Varietal character
What are the requirements for the Qualitätswein category “Reserve”?
- Min 13% abv
- Later harvest and release
What Prädikats-category is not existing?
Kabinett
How is TBA from Rust called?
Ausbruch
What does DAC stand for?
Districtus Austriae Controllatus
What is the purpose of DAC?
Promote regional typicity
Is DAC a guarantee of quality?
No, rather an indicator of typicity
How many DAC wine growing regions are there?
16
What is a potential disadvantage of the DAC system?
New-wave, high-quality wine may not receive DAC
What quality criteria can be used for DAC wines?
- Gebietswein (regional)
- Ortswein (village)
- Riedenwein (single vineyard)
Name two further quality classifications (outside of Autrian wine law)
- Österreichische Traditionsweingüter (ÖTW)
- Vinea Wachau
What are the Österreichische Traditionsweingüter (ÖTW)?
A group of producers from, e.g., Kamptal, Kremstal, Wagram, and Vienna
What are the Österreichische Traditionsweingüter (ÖTW) doing to promote quality?
Classify vineyards in a similar fashion to Burgundy, based on soil type and climate
When can producers within the Österreichische Traditionsweingüter (ÖTW) use the term “1ÖTW” on the label?
- Varieties from one of 81 “Erste Lage” vineyards
- The two most traditional grape varieties of the region are used
Which of the 9 federal states in Austria have a significant amount of viticulture?
- Niederösterreich
- Burgenland
- Steiermark
- Wien
How does Austria’s producer landscape look like and what are the trends?
- Highly fragmented (4,000 wine estates)
- Decline in very small wine estates
- Increase of producers with more than 5 ha
Where is most of Austrian wine sold?
Hospitality sector (“Heurigen”)
What is Heurigen?
- Meaning: ‘this year’s’
- Small inns or taverns that serve simple food and local wine
- Mostly open in the late summer and autumn
What happened in the last decades in terms of quality?
- After the wine scandal, more higher quality wines
- Focus on export of bottled wines rather than in bulk
How much of Austria’s wine is exported?
20%
What are the main export markets?
- Germany (50% of exports by volume and value)
- Switzerland
- USA
