Austria - Wine Regions Flashcards
How many of Austrias 9 federal states have significant amounts of viticulture?
4, Niederösterreich, Burgenland, Steiermark and Wien.
What is significant about Niederösterreich?
It is Austrias’ largest wine growing region.
Many of Austrias’ most famous vineyards are situated in this region.
What is the division of plantings in Niederösterreich?
2/3rds white, Gruner is nearly 50% of total plantings.
How is Niederösterreich geographically divided?
Generally broken down into 3 regions:
• Weinviertal in the North.
• The regions along the Danube that are west of Vienna, including Wachau, Wagram, Kamptal and Kremstal.
• The warmer Pannonian plains in the southeast.
Where is the Wachau located? What varieties are found here?
Primarily situated along the north bank of the Danube River.
Riesling and Grüner are the most planted, and never blended.
What is the general topography and climate of the Wachau?
Most vineyards are found on steep terraces, with the best sites facing south for maximum sunlight interception. An added benefit of these terraces is that the stones absorb heat in the day and re radiate it at night, ensuring very ripe fruit.
The Danube also reflects heat and sun into the terraces.
The soils are varied, but Riesling is generally planted on gneiss, and Grüner on loess.
The region only receives 460mm rainfall, so irrigation can be necessary in many vintages, though it is controlled.
In some years, humidity of the river can cause rot formation, which may not be desired by a number of producers as dry styles are usually preferred.
What is the general quality and price of wines from Wachau?
Almost exclusively very good to outstanding, and tend to be premium .
What are the key producer types in Wachau?
Largely dominated by fanily-owned estates (eg F.X. Pichler and Franz Hirtzberger), it is also home to the large, quality-driven co-operative Domäne Wachau.
What are the requirements for the different regional hierarchies within Wachau?
Since 2020, providing wines meet the set requirements, wines have been able to be labelled as Wachau DAC.
For regional and village wines (Ortswein), a range of varieties can be used.
For single vineyard wines (Riedenwein), only Riesling and Grüner are permitted.
All DAC wines must be hand harvested.
What has the Vinea Wachau achieved in Wachau?
They’ve classified single vineyards based on soil and climate, which can be displayed on the bottle.
They have created registered trademarks for three different classifications of dry white wines (less than 9g/L RS) to help indicate style and quality:
• Steinfeder - fruity, dry wine, with a maximum of 11.5% abv. The lightest style.
• Federspiel - a more concentrated style, ranging from 11.5-12.5% abv.
• Smaragd - Typically a highly concentrated, dry wine, with ripe fruit flavours and a minimum 12.5% abv.
What is the typical profile of wines from Wachau?
Due to stony terraces and high levels of sunshine, many wines have citrus, stone fruit and, in the case of Smaragd, tropical fruit flavours.
Body will range from light (Steinfeder) to full (Smaragd), and all three styles will have no new oak.
All wines have medium (+) to high acidity.
Rieslings rarely go over 14%, but in hot vintages Grüner sometimes will.
The most outstanding wines, usually found in Smaragd, can improve in the bottle for decades.
Where is Kremstal located, and what natural factors affect viticultural decisions?
Around the town of Krems, and birders Wachau to the west.
Influenced by the warn Pannonian plain to the east resulting in the growing of some Zweigelt, as it is warmer than Wachau.
This is especially true of the vineyards south of the danube.
Which grapes qualify for DAC in Kremstal?
Riesling and Grüner.
Red wines are labelled Niederösterreich (roughly 25% of production).
What is the typical profile of DAC wines from Kremstal?
Both gruner and riesling are made in a dry style, with medium (+) to high acidity. Both will range from medium to full bodied depending on the site, and range from good to outstanding, with mid to premium pricing.
Who are significant producers in Kremstal?
Salomon Undhof, Lenz Moser and the important co-operative Weingut Stadt Krems.
What is the typical profile of red wines from Kremstal?
Most are made from Zweigelt in a fruity, easy drinking style with little or no oak influence.
They tend to have refreshing, medium (+) to high levels of acidity and medium levels of tannin and body, with red and black fruit aromas.
Good to very good, mid priced.
Where is Kamptal located, and what natural factors influence viticulture?
On the banks of the River Kamp, surrounding the town of Langenlois.
It has similar sunshine hours and temperature to Kremstal however with less humidity, so botrytis is infrequent.
The region is subject to both warm breezes from the Pannonian plain, enabling black grapes to ripen, but also cooling air from the Bohemian Massif.
The resulting large diurnal range means the wines have high acidity.
What is the division of plantings in Kamptal?
Over 50% Gruner, Zweigelt second place, then Riesling.
What varieties are permitted in Kamptal DAC wines?
Grüner and Riesling. Both can produce very good to outstanding wines, with the possibility to improve over time and command premium prices.
