Austria Flashcards
brief history of Austria as a wine country
- 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
is all of austria suited for grape growing?
no, too mountainous most of it is when the Alps flatten towards the Pannonian plain along the Danube
austria general climate
cool continental
austrian climate influences
north - cooler (north winds)
south - warmer (adriatic sea influence)
east - warmer pannonian climate
west - cooler (alps breezes)
main hazards in austria
spring frost
hail
water stress (irrigation can be used)
two main soils for austria and what is generally planted there
- 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)
what is urgestein
a crystalline bedrock found in thin soils over rock in austria
most used training system in the 1980s
lenz moser system
cordon trained higher to avoid shading
high production, requires little manteinance and can be mechanised
most used training system now
single or double guyot (replacement cane) vsp trellising high quality
harvesting in austria
machine in flatter land (weinvertel/burgenland) steep terraces is hand (around danuce eg acha kremsta kamptal), work is 3-5 times harder
why organic practices are high in austria?
14% organic, 5% sustainable
- moderate precipitations (450mm weinviertel down to 850mm in steiermark)
- lack of diseases (especially fungal)
maximum yield per hectare
67.5hl/ha in reality stays around 49hl/ha in line with modern image of high quality country
austria most planted variety?
gruner 32% of total production followed by zwigelt, welschriesling, blaufrankisch and riesling
gruner favourite soils and why
clay and loess they retain high level of water
gruner vigour
high vigour especially in fertile soils need careful canopy management
gruner skins feature
thick can give phenolic taste or bitterness if in contact with the wine for too long rotundone is in the skins (white pepper flavour)
gruner style
medium + to high acidity not oaked simple citrus green fruit to ageing examples
zweigelt accounts for how much of austria production?
14%
zweigelt crossing
blaufrankisch x st lauren
zweigelt main features
- high yielding
- ripens early
- potassium deficiency (loss crop)
- resistant to frost and rot
zweigelt style
medium + acidity medium tannins red fruit easy drinking till oaked ageing styles (premium prices)
welschriesling in used for what kind of styles and why?
- 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)
blaufrankisch style
medium + to high tannins high acidity deep colour black fruits simple till oaked oustanding spicy character
blaufrankisch main areas of production
leithaberg
mittelburgenland
blaufrankisch budding ripening cycle
buds early (vulnerable to frost) ripens late (needs full warm climate to fully ripen)
blaufrankisch yields
always high
blaufrankisch is resistant to
rot, thick skin
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
main goal of austrian white winemaking and what techniques are used to achieve it?
retain primary aromas and varietal character
- short period of skin contact to extract extra flavours
- neutral vessel (stainless, old oak) with temperature control
- no MLF
red winemaking in austria
- open top vessels fermentation
- ambient yeast
- maturation in stainless or old oak 300-600, or barrique some new
what kinds of oak vats are used in red winemaking in austria?
acacia vats are becoming popular add small oxygenation without giving vanilla flavours
what DAC stands for:
Districtus Austriae Controllatus mixture of german an roman traditions
austria eu pod/pgi terms
wein - no GI
landwein - PGI
qualitaswein - PDO. needs a government inspection to uphold to minimum standards
qualitaswein in austria is how much of the total production?
90%
qualitaswein labeling terms
klassik - vintage declaration, show varietal
reserve - min 13%, harvested and released later
pradikatswein in austria
like Germany, kabinett not present