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WSET Diploma D3 > Austria > Flashcards

Austria Flashcards

1
Q

brief history of Austria as a wine country

A
  1. 10th-12th century cistercian monks brings burgundy structure to austria and helped building terraces near wachau
  2. decline for turkey invasion, high taxes, beer popularity, phulloxera, powdery and downy milder
  3. 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
  4. association Austrian Wine Marketing Board to change direction premium prices are accepted for the country
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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

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3
Q

austria general climate

A

cool continental

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4
Q

austrian climate influences

A

north - cooler (north winds)
south - warmer (adriatic sea influence)
east - warmer pannonian climate
west - cooler (alps breezes)

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5
Q

main hazards in austria

A

spring frost
hail
water stress (irrigation can be used)

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6
Q

two main soils for austria and what is generally planted there

A
  1. thin soils over rock (granite, gneiss, crystalline bedrock) riesling
  2. richer soils (e.g. loess, clay) - gruner veltliner also limestone schist (leithaberg), gravel and vulcanic (steiermark)
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7
Q

what is urgestein

A

a crystalline bedrock found in thin soils over rock in austria

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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

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9
Q

most used training system now

A

single or double guyot (replacement cane) vsp trellising high quality

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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

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11
Q

why organic practices are high in austria?

A

14% organic, 5% sustainable

  1. moderate precipitations (450mm weinviertel down to 850mm in steiermark)
  2. lack of diseases (especially fungal)
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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

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13
Q

austria most planted variety?

A

gruner 32% of total production followed by zwigelt, welschriesling, blaufrankisch and riesling

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14
Q

gruner favourite soils and why

A

clay and loess they retain high level of water

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15
Q

gruner vigour

A

high vigour especially in fertile soils need careful canopy management

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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)

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17
Q

gruner style

A

medium + to high acidity not oaked simple citrus green fruit to ageing examples

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18
Q

zweigelt accounts for how much of austria production?

A

14%

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19
Q

zweigelt crossing

A

blaufrankisch x st lauren

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20
Q

zweigelt main features

A
  1. high yielding
  2. ripens early
  3. potassium deficiency (loss crop)
  4. resistant to frost and rot
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21
Q

zweigelt style

A

medium + acidity medium tannins red fruit easy drinking till oaked ageing styles (premium prices)

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22
Q

welschriesling in used for what kind of styles and why?

A
  1. generally dry easy (found in steiermark - now in decline as the style doesnt fit austrian marketing)
  2. BA, TBA style (thin skin for noble rot in Neusiedlersee)
  3. Sekt (high acidity and neutral aromatics)
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23
Q

blaufrankisch style

A

medium + to high tannins high acidity deep colour black fruits simple till oaked oustanding spicy character

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24
Q

blaufrankisch main areas of production

A

leithaberg
mittelburgenland

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25
Q

blaufrankisch budding ripening cycle

A

buds early (vulnerable to frost) ripens late (needs full warm climate to fully ripen)

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26
Q

blaufrankisch yields

A

always high

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27
Q

blaufrankisch is resistant to

A

rot, thick skin

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28
Q

riesling in austria

A

mostly famous in the north (niederosterreich), 2nd most planted in warmer sites, thin soils needs age as the style required is honey and nutty

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29
Q

main goal of austrian white winemaking and what techniques are used to achieve it?

A

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
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30
Q

red winemaking in austria

A
  1. open top vessels fermentation
  2. ambient yeast
  3. maturation in stainless or old oak 300-600, or barrique some new
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31
Q

what kinds of oak vats are used in red winemaking in austria?

A

acacia vats are becoming popular add small oxygenation without giving vanilla flavours

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32
Q

what DAC stands for:

A

Districtus Austriae Controllatus mixture of german an roman traditions

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33
Q

austria eu pod/pgi terms

A

wein - no GI
landwein - PGI
qualitaswein - PDO. needs a government inspection to uphold to minimum standards

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34
Q

qualitaswein in austria is how much of the total production?

A

90%

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35
Q

qualitaswein labeling terms

A

klassik - vintage declaration, show varietal
reserve - min 13%, harvested and released later

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36
Q

pradikatswein in austria

A

like Germany, kabinett not present

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37
Q

how tba are labeled in the city of rust?

38
Q

rules of DAC

A

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
Q

DAC quality hierarchy

A

regional (gebietswein)
village (ortswein)
single vineyard (riedenwein)

40
Q

name two association that classify quality and origin in austrian wines outside the DAC and their location

A

OTW Osterreichische Traiditionseinguter (Kamptal, Krestal, Wagram, Vienna)

Vinea Wachau (Wachau)

41
Q

OTW rules

A
  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
Q

main four regions of austria top to bottom

A

niederosterreich wien burgenland steiermark

43
Q

niederosterreich structure

A

north: weinviertel
danube area: wachau, kremstal, kamptal, wagram
south: pannonian plain

44
Q

wachau main climatic influences

A
  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
Q

usual quality range of wachau

A

from vg to oustanding premium prices

46
Q

main producers of wachau

A

fx pichler
franz hirtzberger
domaine wachau (co-op quality driven)

47
Q

wachau dac exists since

48
Q

dac rules in wachau

A

single vineyard only riesling and gruner
harvest by hand mandatory
other grapes might be used in no single vineyards

49
Q

vinea wachau rules

A

single vineyard system (based on soil and climate) registered trademark classification for cru whites (less than 9g/l of sugar)

50
Q

vinea wachau classification

A

steinfeder (fruity, light, max 11.5% abv)
federspiel (more concentrated,, 11.5-12.5%)
smaragd (highly concentrated, ripe flavours, min 12.5%)

51
Q

kremstal climate influences

A

warmer than wachau pannonian plain influence

52
Q

grapes in kremstal

A

gruner and riesling (labeled DAC) good to oustanding zweigelt (labeled as Niederosterreich) fruity style no oak

53
Q

best producers in kremstal

A

salomon undhof, lenz moser, coop stadt krems

54
Q

kamptal climatic influences

A

similar to kremstal with less humidity large diurnal = high acidity warm breezes from pannonia cooling air from bohemian massif

55
Q

kamptal takes his name from…

A

the river kamp the goes through the area

56
Q

grapes in kamptal and style

A

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
Q

kamptal famous producers

A

brundlmayer hirsch

58
Q

wagram climatic influences

A

rolling hills on the danube strong pannonian warm influence

59
Q

soils in wagram and grape

A

loess = gruner and roter veltliner

60
Q

roter veltliner style

A

full body nutty aromas

61
Q

is there a dac in wagram?

A

yes, from 2022

62
Q

gruner veltliner style in wagram

A

klassik or reserve (more oaked) some eiswein and late harvest

63
Q

niederosterreich climatic influences

A

too big to generalise 400-600mm ran cooling breezes from the north = high diurnal

64
Q

grapes allowed in weinwertel

A

dac only gruner reserve 13% min with oak and botrytis allowed

65
Q

why weinviertel wines are peppery?

A

winds from the north

66
Q

weinviertel main producer

A

sohm & kracher

67
Q

thermenregion influences

A

warm air from pannonian plain

68
Q

is thermenregion part of the DAC?

A

yes from 2023

69
Q

grapes and style in thermenregion

A

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
Q

burgenland regions

A

neusiedlersee
leithaberg
mittelburgenland

71
Q

burgenland general climate

A

flattest warmest region in austria warm pannonian plain influences = mainly red production

72
Q

grapes in burgenland

A

mainly blaufrankisch and zweigelt (all styles) gruner (might be too warm sometimes) and welschriesling (botrytised wines)

73
Q

how noble rot forms in neusiedlersee?

A

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
Q

why welschriesling is suited to sweet wines production?

75
Q

under which DAC neusiedlersee TBA wines are coming in?

A

ruster ausbruch DAC, only the municipality of the city of Rust

76
Q

Neusiedlersee DAC rules

A

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
Q

main producers in neusiedlersee

A

reds- krutzler tba style - alois kracher

78
Q

leithaberg climate zones

A
  1. next to neusiedlersee lake - tba ausbruch
  2. west - red grapes blaufrankisch
79
Q

leithaberg dac rules

A

red - 85% min blaufrakisch, oak ageing mandatory (vg to oustanding) white dry - blends or single varietal from weissburgunder, chardonnay, gruner, neuburger

80
Q

weissburgunder is

A

pinot blanc

81
Q

mittelburgenland climatic influences

A

pannonia plain warm air

82
Q

mittelburgenlad dac structure

A

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
Q

steiermark main problems

A

spring frost
hail (netting allowed)
winter freeze

84
Q

main climatic feature of styria

A

large diurnal range (high acidity)

85
Q

how are vineyards in styria?

A

terraced, steep slopes

86
Q

grapes in styria

A

welschriesling, sauvignon blanc, weissburgunder

87
Q

dac system of steiermark

A

vulkanland steiermakr sudsteiermark weststeiermark focus on village (orstwein) and single vineyard (riedenweine)

88
Q

dac of wien and style

A

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
Q

situation of business for wine estates

A

decline of small estates and rise of ones wth more than 5ha

90
Q

who buys most wines in austria

A

hospitality sector especially heurigen (small taverns with simple food) open in summer and autumn domestic is 2/3 of all wine purchased

91
Q

austrian export

A

20% of production Germany is the country that exports the most (after is switzerland and USA) by volume and value

WSET Diploma D3 (28 decks)

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