Austria Wine Notes — 03/12/2008

Austria did not deserve the bad reputation it earned in the mid 1980s, this was due to an elaborate fraud perpetrated by just a handful of people. The result was catastrophic, initially, however living it down though has a dynamising effect on the country's wine producers. Now they are focused, ethical and on a mission.

The wines of Austria are from the east of the country - The Danube Valley, around Vienna, from the edge of the Pannonian plain and from the hilly south-east in Styria.

Lower Austria

Wachau: The steep, terraced vineyards of the Danube upstream from Krems and Vienna is the classic vineyard of Austria. Warm air moves up from Hungary, the valley narrows and has several bends which present superb meso climates. Wines from villages of Durnstein and Loiben are superb, and Spitz and Joching are very good but more delicate due to the cooler nights and down-draughts from the forest plateau.

Riesling is the classic variety, but is only planted in top sites (around 10% of the total). Grüner Veltliner is the most common (around 55%). There’s also Müller-Thurgau, Chardonnay etc.

Soils are primary rock - decomposed granite, mica & gneiss, with sand by the river and deep loess, particularly on the south side.

Kremstal: A top region just east of Wachau, around the town of Krems with the same soils as Wachau. In the past Kremstal was considered superior to the Wachau, though it does not have the same steep terraces straight on to the river as...

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