Austria Flashcards
Austria is divided into 3 large “lands” for growing regions. Name them.
Weinland
Steirerland
Bergland
Of the 3 Austrian growing regions, where are the Niederosterreich, Burgenland, Vienna, and Styria located?
Styria is in Steirerland. The other 3 are in Weinland.
Bergland is the mountainous West, and has a very small amount of vines.
As the Alps fade into Eastern Austria and eventually Hungary, what is the flatter area here in the Northeast of the country generally known as?
Lower Austria or Niederosterreich
What country is South of Austria? How about SE? And East? NE? North? NW? West?
S-Italy
SE-Slovenia
E-Hungary
NE-Slovakia
N-Czech Republic
NW-Germany
W-Switzerland
The Niederosterreich accounts for how much of Austrian production?
What river plays a pivotal role in viticulture here?
over 50%
Danube river
What is the climate like in Niederosterreich? How does it vary across the region?
Continental
The SE portions of Thermenregion and Carnuntum see warm winds from the Pannonian plain and are hotter areas overall.
The Western areas get cold winds from the North.
What event would shape the modern Austrian wine industry?
What did it mirror before? What happened after?
The DEG scandal of 1985. Producers got caught adding small trace amounts of diethylene glycol to wines as a sweetener.
Mirroring the German pradikat system before, Austrian wine laws would undergo sweeping reforms during the 90s and become much more like Burgundy.
What organization would guide the Austrian wine industry following the DEG scandal, and what was the end result in 2002?
The AWMB, Austrian Wine Marketing Board
Acceptance into the EU in 1995 was followed by the approval of the DAC system in 2002. Districtus Austriae Controllatus.
What wine college would help shape Austrian viticulture beginning in 1860?
Klosterneuburg Monastery
Who came up with the idea of Hochkultur and what is it?
Lenz Moser
training vines higher up on wires. it came about in the 20’s after cold winters killed vines not trained this way. by the 1980’s all vines in Austria were trained this way.
What is the KMW?
Klosterneuburg Must Weight scale.
1g sugar per 100g must.
Equals 5 Oechsle
What are the three levels of quality in the general wine classification of Austria? (table, igt, pdo)
Wein
-wein (anywhere in EU)
-osterreich (anywhere in Austria)
Landwein (IGT)
Qualitatswein (PDO)
If a bottle qualifies as Landwein in Austria, what 2 stipulations are there?
The grape(s) must be permitted at the Qualitatswein level and
they must be from 1 of the 3 Austrian growing regions.
How many varieties are approved for Austrian Qualitatswein?
What is the minimum must weight?
What is the minimum ABV?
40 varieties
15 KMW
9% (5% for pradikat)
Under Austrian Qualitatswein, what 4 categories exist?
Kabinett, DAC, Pradikatswein, Sekt
If a wine is labeled as Austrian Qualitatswein Kabinett, what 4 rules are there?
min must weight goes up, 17 KMW
max r.s. is 9g/L
no chaptalization allowed
max ABV is 13%
A DAC labeled wine can use the term ‘reserve’. what does it mean?
reserve is official, fuller style, min ABV 13%, oak evidence
A DAC labeled wine can use the term ‘klassik’. what does it mean?
klassik is unofficial. just means dry wine, not chaptalized, medium body, crisp and unoaked
What are the KMW values for Austrian Pradikatswein?
Spatlese
Auslese
Beerenauslese
Eiswein
Stroh or Schilfwein
Trockenbeerenauslese
19
21
25
25
25
30
What is a schilfwein? strohwein?
grapes are hung up or dried on reeds (schilf) or straw (stroh) mats for a minimum 3 months.
Who got the Austrian Sekt industry rolling and in what year?
Robert Alwin Schlumberger after working as Ruinart’s cellarmaster, returned to Vienna in 1842 and planted vines South of Vienna on chalky white soil.
This was the Goldeggen vineyard, and Goldeck was the brand, in 1859.
Who helped the Austrian Sekt market grow in the 1970’s?
Gerald Malat got the law changed, which did not allow wineries to make base wines for Sekt production.
What does Hauersekt mean?
What percent of Austrian production is Sekt?
It means Grower produced sparkling.
5%
What are the preferred grapes for Austrian Sekt?
What other grapes are also used?
Gruner and Welschriesling
Chard, Pinot, and Riesling
What are the 3 PDO’s that were approved for Austrian Sekt in 2022?
Sekt Austria
Sekt Austria Reserve
Sekt Austria Grosse Reserve
What is required for basic Austrian Sekt?
Basic Sekt is from any of the 40 grapes approved for production in Austria, from anywhere in the EU. Can indicate its from Austria, or produced in Austria.
No lees time or method required.
What is required to be Sekt Austria PDO (DAC)?
lees time is 9 months for traditional, 6 months if charmat
grapes come from a single state (lower Austria, burgenland, styria, etc)
What is required of Sekt Austria Reserve production?
traditional method required, 18 months lees.
Dosage max is Brut (12g/L)
State of origin on the label, could say the village.
What is required of Sekt Austria Grosse Reserve?
Single village required, and on the label, vineyard could be on the label.
36 months lees
(traditional method, brut max)
What do the traditional sparkling dosage terms look like in Austria?
Herb means Brut
Mild means Sweet
other wise its straightforward
What portion of the Austrian vineyard does Gruner account for?
33%
In what Austrian wines will I find Welschriesling?
Dessert wines and Sekt
In Styria is the top white grape, making simple still dry wines.
What is Chardonnay called in Styria?
Morillon
What is Zweigelt a crossing of? What was its original name?
Blaufrankisch and St Laurent
Rotburger
What is Blaufrankisch a crossing of?
Gouais Blanc and Zimmettraube
What is the top red grape in Austria?
The 2nd? (%)
Zweigelt 42%
Blaufrankisch 19%
What is the name for the large region that encompasses Wachau, Kremstal, etc?
Niederosterreich
What vast DAC covers NE Austria, about 100 km across?
In what year did it become a DAC?
Weinviertel DAC
2002, Austria’s 1st
What is Gruner’s preferred soil type in Austria?
And Riesling?
Gruner likes Loess. Lower on the slopes, chalky calcareous and mineral laden, the dirt holds just enough water to keep Gruner happy.
Riesling takes the Granite higher up, much like slate.
What co-op claims 33% of the Wachau vineyards?
Domaine Wachau