Austria Flashcards
1
Q
brief history of Austria as a wine country
A
- 10th-12th century cistercian monks brings burgundy structure to austria and helped building terraces near wachau
- decline for turkey invasion, high taxes, beer popularity, phulloxera, powdery and downy milder
- anti freeze scandal in mid 70s/80s as some producers of inexpensive wine wanted to simulate sweetness - exports dropped from 30 million to 5 million
- association Austrian Wine Marketing Board to change direction premium prices are accepted for the country
2
Q
is all of austria suited for grape growing?
A
no, too mountainous most of it is when the Alps flatten towards the Pannonian plain along the Danube
3
Q
austria general climate
A
cool continental
4
Q
austrian climate influences
A
north - cooler (north winds)
south - warmer (adriatic sea influence)
east - warmer pannonian climate
west - cooler (alps breezes)
5
Q
main hazards in austria
A
spring frost
hail
water stress (irrigation can be used)
6
Q
two main soils for austria and what is generally planted there
A
- thin soils over rock (granite, gneiss, crystalline bedrock) riesling
- richer soils (e.g. loess, clay) - gruner veltliner also limestone schist (leithaberg), gravel and vulcanic (steiermark)
7
Q
what is urgestein
A
a crystalline bedrock found in thin soils over rock in austria
8
Q
most used training system in the 1980s
A
lenz moser system
cordon trained higher to avoid shading
high production, requires little manteinance and can be mechanised
9
Q
most used training system now
A
single or double guyot (replacement cane) vsp trellising high quality
10
Q
harvesting in austria
A
machine in flatter land (weinvertel/burgenland) steep terraces is hand (around danuce eg acha kremsta kamptal), work is 3-5 times harder
11
Q
why organic practices are high in austria?
A
14% organic, 5% sustainable
- moderate precipitations (450mm weinviertel down to 850mm in steiermark)
- lack of diseases (especially fungal)
12
Q
maximum yield per hectare
A
67.5hl/ha in reality stays around 49hl/ha in line with modern image of high quality country
13
Q
austria most planted variety?
A
gruner 32% of total production followed by zwigelt, welschriesling, blaufrankisch and riesling
14
Q
gruner favourite soils and why
A
clay and loess they retain high level of water
15
Q
gruner vigour
A
high vigour especially in fertile soils need careful canopy management
16
Q
gruner skins feature
A
thick can give phenolic taste or bitterness if in contact with the wine for too long rotundone is in the skins (white pepper flavour)
17
Q
gruner style
A
medium + to high acidity not oaked simple citrus green fruit to ageing examples
18
Q
zweigelt accounts for how much of austria production?
A
14%
19
Q
zweigelt crossing
A
blaufrankisch x st lauren
20
Q
zweigelt main features
A
- high yielding
- ripens early
- potassium deficiency (loss crop)
- resistant to frost and rot
21
Q
zweigelt style
A
medium + acidity medium tannins red fruit easy drinking till oaked ageing styles (premium prices)
22
Q
welschriesling in used for what kind of styles and why?
A
- generally dry easy (found in steiermark - now in decline as the style doesnt fit austrian marketing)
- BA, TBA style (thin skin for noble rot in Neusiedlersee)
- Sekt (high acidity and neutral aromatics)
23
Q
blaufrankisch style
A
medium + to high tannins high acidity deep colour black fruits simple till oaked oustanding spicy character
24
Q
blaufrankisch main areas of production
A
leithaberg
mittelburgenland
25
blaufrankisch budding ripening cycle
buds early (vulnerable to frost) ripens late (needs full warm climate to fully ripen)
26
blaufrankisch yields
always high
27
blaufrankisch is resistant to
rot, thick skin
28
riesling in austria
mostly famous in the north (niederosterreich), 2nd most planted in warmer sites, thin soils needs age as the style required is honey and nutty
29
main goal of austrian white winemaking and what techniques are used to achieve it?
retain primary aromas and varietal character
1. short period of skin contact to extract extra flavours
2. neutral vessel (stainless, old oak) with temperature control
3. no MLF
30
red winemaking in austria
1. open top vessels fermentation
2. ambient yeast
3. maturation in stainless or old oak 300-600, or barrique some new
31
what kinds of oak vats are used in red winemaking in austria?
acacia vats are becoming popular add small oxygenation without giving vanilla flavours
32
what DAC stands for:
Districtus Austriae Controllatus mixture of german an roman traditions
33
austria eu pod/pgi terms
wein - no GI
landwein - PGI
qualitaswein - PDO. needs a government inspection to uphold to minimum standards
34
qualitaswein in austria is how much of the total production?
90%
35
qualitaswein labeling terms
klassik - vintage declaration, show varietal
reserve - min 13%, harvested and released later
36
pradikatswein in austria
like Germany, kabinett not present
37
how tba are labeled in the city of rust?
ausbruch
38
rules of DAC
doesn't guarantee quality but tipicity (some new-wave might not be admitted)
1. only permitted grape varieties (ensure regional tipicity)
2. tasting panel to analyse typical style
39
DAC quality hierarchy
regional (gebietswein)
village (ortswein)
single vineyard (riedenwein)
40
name two association that classify quality and origin in austrian wines outside the DAC and their location
OTW Osterreichische Traiditionseinguter (Kamptal, Krestal, Wagram, Vienna)
Vinea Wachau (Wachau)
41
OTW rules
1. vineyards are classified by soil and climate (e/g. Burgundy), 81 vineyards can have Este Lage status with 1OTV logo)
2. only riesling and gruner grapes are allowed
they recently asked to add these laws inside the Austrian Wine Law
42
main four regions of austria top to bottom
niederosterreich wien burgenland steiermark
43
niederosterreich structure
north: weinviertel
danube area: wachau, kremstal, kamptal, wagram
south: pannonian plain
44
wachau main climatic influences
1. south facing stony steep terraces (sun interception + radiation from the soils)
2. danube moderating and radiating heat back, also some humidity for noble rot
3. 460mm rain (not enough need irrigation)
45
usual quality range of wachau
from vg to oustanding premium prices
46
main producers of wachau
fx pichler
franz hirtzberger
domaine wachau (co-op quality driven)
47
wachau dac exists since
2020
48
dac rules in wachau
single vineyard only riesling and gruner
harvest by hand mandatory
other grapes might be used in no single vineyards
49
vinea wachau rules
single vineyard system (based on soil and climate) registered trademark classification for cru whites (less than 9g/l of sugar)
50
vinea wachau classification
steinfeder (fruity, light, max 11.5% abv)
federspiel (more concentrated,, 11.5-12.5%)
smaragd (highly concentrated, ripe flavours, min 12.5%)
51
kremstal climate influences
warmer than wachau pannonian plain influence
52
grapes in kremstal
gruner and riesling (labeled DAC) good to oustanding zweigelt (labeled as Niederosterreich) fruity style no oak
53
best producers in kremstal
salomon undhof, lenz moser, coop stadt krems
54
kamptal climatic influences
similar to kremstal with less humidity large diurnal = high acidity warm breezes from pannonia cooling air from bohemian massif
55
kamptal takes his name from...
the river kamp the goes through the area
56
grapes in kamptal and style
gruner (most planted) and riesling for DAC wines vg to oustanding zweigelt (second planted) as niederosterreich can be fruity or oaked 12 months, also pinot noir
57
kamptal famous producers
brundlmayer hirsch
58
wagram climatic influences
rolling hills on the danube strong pannonian warm influence
59
soils in wagram and grape
loess = gruner and roter veltliner
60
roter veltliner style
full body nutty aromas
61
is there a dac in wagram?
yes, from 2022
62
gruner veltliner style in wagram
klassik or reserve (more oaked) some eiswein and late harvest
63
niederosterreich climatic influences
too big to generalise 400-600mm ran cooling breezes from the north = high diurnal
64
grapes allowed in weinwertel
dac only gruner reserve 13% min with oak and botrytis allowed
65
why weinviertel wines are peppery?
winds from the north
66
weinviertel main producer
sohm & kracher
67
thermenregion influences
warm air from pannonian plain
68
is thermenregion part of the DAC?
yes from 2023
69
grapes and style in thermenregion
50% reds pinot noir sankt laurent (medium - body, mid tannins and red cherry - pinot like, matured in oak) white neuburger (spicy floral aromas) blend of rotgipfler (full body, peach) and zierfandler (aromatic, peach honey spices)
70
burgenland regions
neusiedlersee
leithaberg
mittelburgenland
71
burgenland general climate
flattest warmest region in austria warm pannonian plain influences = mainly red production
72
grapes in burgenland
mainly blaufrankisch and zweigelt (all styles) gruner (might be too warm sometimes) and welschriesling (botrytised wines)
73
how noble rot forms in neusiedlersee?
the lake makes the area warm (up to 30c in summer), during autumsn temp drops but lake is still warm so creates fog overnight, same in marshy areas with small ponds (botrytis forms) warm autumn sunshine burns the fog preventing grey rot formation noble rot forms every vintage
74
why welschriesling is suited to sweet wines production?
thin skin
75
under which DAC neusiedlersee TBA wines are coming in?
ruster ausbruch DAC, only the municipality of the city of Rust
76
Neusiedlersee DAC rules
only red wines based on Zweigelt
Klassik - 100% zweigelt, little oak
Reserve 60% Zweigelt (can be blended with blaufrakisch), ageing in oak, premium prices
77
main producers in neusiedlersee
reds- krutzler tba style - alois kracher
78
leithaberg climate zones
1. next to neusiedlersee lake - tba ausbruch
2. west - red grapes blaufrankisch
79
leithaberg dac rules
red - 85% min blaufrakisch, oak ageing mandatory (vg to oustanding) white dry - blends or single varietal from weissburgunder, chardonnay, gruner, neuburger
80
weissburgunder is
pinot blanc
81
mittelburgenland climatic influences
pannonia plain warm air
82
mittelburgenlad dac structure
min 85% blaufrankisch
DAC - stainless steel/large oak cask ageing
DAC + Vineyard - higher minimum alcohol, ageing oak cask large or barrique
DAC Reserve - higher minimum alcohol, longer maturation in oak large or barriques
83
steiermark main problems
spring frost
hail (netting allowed)
winter freeze
84
main climatic feature of styria
large diurnal range (high acidity)
85
how are vineyards in styria?
terraced, steep slopes
86
grapes in styria
welschriesling, sauvignon blanc, weissburgunder
87
dac system of steiermark
vulkanland steiermakr sudsteiermark weststeiermark focus on village (orstwein) and single vineyard (riedenweine)
88
dac of wien and style
dac wiener gemischter satz blend of 20 varietals dry, unoaked can have vineyard site indication generally to drink now but also some premium prices
89
situation of business for wine estates
decline of small estates and rise of ones wth more than 5ha
90
who buys most wines in austria
hospitality sector especially heurigen (small taverns with simple food) open in summer and autumn domestic is 2/3 of all wine purchased
91
austrian export
20% of production Germany is the country that exports the most (after is switzerland and USA) by volume and value
