Strasser vineyards

During a recent visit, a group of five growers hosted a tasting from their small corner of Kamptal, which is renowned for its grüner veltliners and rieslings.

In its entirety, Kamptal is quite a large region, relatively for Austria, with 3,800 hectares of vineyards, centred around Austria’s largest wine town, Langenlois, which has a population of 7,000. The famous Heiligenstein vineyard overlooks this town.

But a short five kilometres east of Langenlois, at the eastern end of Gaisberg, lying in a tributary valley of the river Kamp, is the village of Strass im Strassertal, home to a band of some 70 Kamptal producers, and 1,500 people.  Here, on the eastern side of the Strasser valley, Wechselberg, peaking at 327m, shoulders up to the 9-metre taller Gaisberg over the valley.

The south-facing Wechselberg, made of slate, granite and gneiss, is the focal vineyard of this small community, though, as with the Burgundian model, producers have vineyard sites on several hill slopes. Whichever the site, said the vivacious Birgit Eichinger, of Weingut Eichinger “it is important to make wines with personality, full body and life.”

An overarching feature to the north is the “Waldviertel at the back of Wechselberg [which] is like a freezer”, said Heinz Weixelbaum, of Weingut Weixelbaum, bringing cool night winds down from the north which help to keep fresh aromas in the fruit.  

Hasel vineyard to the east of Strass im Strassertal, heading towards Wagram, has deep loess soils, so is better suited to hungrier and thirstier grüner veltliner. 

Tasting notes, in situ, May 2011

Weingut Allram, Grüner Veltliner  Gaisberg 2010, Kamptal DAC, Reserve
13.5%, 6.8g/l TA, 6g/l RS. Mainly on primary rock, slate, under loess.
Tropical fruit, fresh, exotic, tight tension in the spicy expression.  Good.

Weingut Allram, Grüner Veltliner  Hasel 2010, Kamptal DAC
Smoke and firestone, with a medium weight of attack. Aromatic spices – nutmeg, allspice, ginger – with smooth texture and balance. Good,

Weingut Allram, Riesling Reserve Gaisberg 2010, Kamptal DAC
Peachy nose, with sweet, ripe peaches and preserved lemon fruit on palate. Enticing and more-ish, in fresh, intense, fashion. Vg.

Martin and Anna Arndorfer, Grüner Veltliner  Strasser Weinberge 2010, Kamptal DAC
Selection of grapes from Gaisberg, Wechselberg and Hasel.
Peach, nectarine, spicy aromatics, dense, sweet fruit compote of lush flavours that are not quite full bodied. Long finish. Good.

Martin and Anna Arndorfer, Riesling Strasser Weinberge 2010, Kamptal DAC, Reserve
A blend of sites on Gaisberg and Wechselberg on primary rock. 50% made in stainless steel, of which 25% were stainless steel barriques; 50% in 2,000 litre old casks.
Tropical, spicy, richly textured, big wine, with rich, spicy layers and long finish. Vg.

Weingut Eichinger, Grüner Veltliner Gaisberg 2010, Kamptal DAC Reserve
Peaches and cream, with full fat, tropical and lush fruit and glycerol sweetness. Rounded style. Good.

Weingut Eichinger, Riesling Gaisberg 2010, Kamptal DAC Reserve
12.5%, 5.2g/l RS. Apple with citrus freshness, limey and pure.  Perky, linear profile, smoothly textured. Good.

Weingut Topf, Grüner Veltliner Ofenberg 2010, Kamptal DAC Reserve
Steely nose, with soft spicy frame to ripe, mediterranean fruits. Nice proportions with a bit of firestone frame in place to support the fruit.

Weingut Topf, Riesling Wechselberg 2010, Kamptal DAC
Fresh attack with bruised apple and a gentle balance. Good intensity in an uncomplicated fashion.  

Weingut Weixelbaum, Grüner Veltliner Wechselberg 2010, Kamptal DAC
Citrus, peppery nose, with gun smoke and steely notes to the fore. Super definition of fresh perky white pepper spiciness. Good.

Weingut Weixelbaum, Riesling Gaisberg 2009, Kamptal DAC Reserve
Perfumed, apple blossom, that causes a pause for reflection on the palate attack. Rich and dry, with sun-blushed peaches, fresh citrus notes, full bodied and layered. Long and very good. This has the advantage of an extra, and different, year.

My research trip to Austria was sponsored by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board.

Loess terraces

In Lower Austria there is a divide between riesling and grüner veltliner which keeps riesling on primary rock and grüner veltliner on loess.  Loess, it seems does remarkable things to grüner veltliner – the wines are creamier, fatter, richer, and more immediately fruity in youth.

To get momentarily technical, loess (known as limon in French) is a usually light coloured, unstratified, windblown deposit comprising silt and clay sized particles, often including calcium carbonate. It is formed when particle-laden winds deposit their load, either due to a drop in wind speed or an increase in precipitation. Over millennia it takes on dense landform proportions as depths can reach 100 metres.

The deepest and most extensive loess landform in the world is in north China, which is derived from the deserts of Mongolia, transported by north-westerly winds.

In terms of viticulture, the largest loess landforms are those around Kaiserstuhl in Germany and those further east on a similar latitude in Lower Austria. These form part of a discontinuous belt of periglacial loess stretching from the Ukraine to southern Britain, formed from wind-blown deposits of the Pleistocene epoch Scandinavian ice sheets.

This discontinuous band of loess carries on through much of Lower Austria. While remnants of loess cover some vineyards in Wachau, such as Hochrain and Kollmutz, Kremstal includes in its varied geology a six kilometre loess terrace stretching east from Krems to Gedersdorf. A loess band extends through Langenlois in Kamptal, and further east again, Wagram has about 1,000 hectares, some 40% of its area’s vines, on deep loess terraces.

Deep loess

Effectively in Lower Austria, said Fritz Miesbauer, the winemaker at Stift Göttweig there are “two soils: primary rock – granite, gneiss, schist, which is mostly in the west, and loess in the east.”  Primary rock is stony, with a low water supply.  Loess is a richer rock, with deep soil and retains more water than primary rock so better meets the demands of thirstier and hungrier grüner veltliner.

Markus Huber of Weingut Markus Huber explained “gruner veltliner is grown on lower lands and foothills, and riesling on terraces, because grüner veltliner has a higher water and nutrient supply need. On richer soils, riesling would easily rot.”  

Huber’s own vineyards are in Traisental, south of the river Danube and south of the loess band, where he grows both riesling and grüner veltliner  on mostly limestone.  On limestone he said grüner veltliner “appears leaner than on loess soils, more delicate and precise.”  

It is Wagram that is regarded as the loess area of Lower Austria. About 5km north of the current river Danube is an old river terrace cut from primary rock, which has since been covered by a now dense and deep loess deposit.  With about 40% of the vineyard area over loess it is no surprise that grüner veltliner is the dominant grape variety in Wagram.  Franz Leth, of Weingut Leth said “loess gives a more balanced style, with a little bit more extract, more weight and body, more creaminess, with harmonious, balanced acidity, and not so many edges in the wine.”

My research trip to Austria was sponsored by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board.

Rolling Weinviertel landscape

The Weinviertel, an expansive and diffuse region north of Vienna, is Austria’s biggest wine-growing region, with over 13,300 hectares, which is nearly a third of all Austria’s vineyard area. Vineyards are scattered throughout the region, on diverse soils, in diverse mesoclimates, and many of the 35 and more grape varieties grown in Austria are grown in this region.

It was one of the poorest wine-growing regions in Austria, and hugely fragmented with over 7,000 grape growers, selling a lot of wine cheaply in bulk and in bottle at low prices. It was also one of the least well known regions, perhaps because it didn’t have a single identity on which to hang its hat. 

Ulrike Hager, managing director of the Weinviertel wine committee, said “ten years ago, there were no quality brands, the average price was below €3 in the market. Weinviertel was known for cheap wines and for lots of different styles and grape varieties. Our backs were against the wall, so we had nothing to lose. We wanted to improve Weinviertel to get a better image, and sell for better prices, of course.”  

This poor position helps explain why Weinviertel was the first to adopt DAC (a Latin term indicating a geographically limited production zone, similar to appellations in France, Italy, Spain), in 2002, as a way of focusing attention, internally and internationally.  With nothing to lose, the region had much to gain.

The region chose to focus on Austria’s icon and indigenous grape variety, grüner veltliner, with clear logic: nearly two-thirds of the Weinviertel vineyard is devoted to grüner veltliner so it made good sense for the region to hang its hat on this variety. Coincidentally, these 8,500 hectares of grüner veltliner in Weinviertel are two-thirds of all grüner veltliner  grown in Austria.

All the other varieties continue to be grown, with the origin of Niederösterreich (Lower Austria).  Only grüner veltliner can get the origin of Weinviertel DAC, and far from all of it succeeds in getting the appellation. Hager said “50% of the applications for DAC are rejected.”

From vintage 2002, a ‘classic’ grüner veltliner DAC was introduced, which, according to the regulations must be “fruity, spicy, peppery [with] no notes of botrytis [hints of noble rot] or wood.”

Just one revision has been made to the Classic DAC – a maximum level of alcohol has been introduced, so Classic DAC is 12% to 12.5% on the label.

Hager said “it was good for us to introduce it. Weinviertel is now known everywhere in Austria. Many people come to Weinviertel. It was the best thing we could do in the last ten years. It is a success.” Since 2004 the number of bottles awarded DAC has doubled to 3m.

Such is the progress of the Weinviertel’s image and recognition, that from vintage 2009 a reserve category has been introduced. Regulations state this style is “dry, powerful, spicy, [with] delicate notes of botrytis or wood permitted.”  

Producers wanting to apply for Reserve DAC, must have their entire winery certified according to the ‘quality standard Weinviertel.” Hager explained the additional scrutiny for Reserve DAC, saying “the whole winery, not just the wine, needs a certificate, which covers technical and softer terms including marketing”, adding “the rules were made by the wine committee in a two year process, [in conjunction] with the University of Agriculture in Vienna.” The certificate lasts three years.

After two vintages of this category, there are just 11 producers with DAC reserve wines. 

Weinviertel is clearly a region in which to find good value grüner veltliner, but there is still plenty of rather average stuff out there, even among the DAC wines, so it is all very much a work in progress, but that is something about which Hager is optimistic.

Top tasting notes of the 2010 vintage (and one from 2009), in situ, May 2011

Bergmann, Grüner Veltliner Classic 2010, Weinviertel DAC
12% 
Upfront white pepper spiciness, smooth and medium bodied with gentle, sweet fruit, and decent length. Straightforward and nice.  

Martinshof, Grüner Veltliner Hausberg 2010, Weinveirtel DAC
12%, 3.6g/l RS. ExCellar < €10
Peachy and pithy nose, firestone with some decent depth, ripe and fruit focused core.  Good.

Haindl-Erlacher, Grüner Veltliner 2010, Weinviertel DAC
12.4%, 2g/l RS. ExCellar < €10
Fresh, perky, citrus nose, lifted, grassy, fresh cut grass (quite sauvignon blanc like in this respect), then green and peppery.  Good length. Good.

Hirtl, Grüner Veltliner Bürsting 2010, Weinviertel DAC
12.5%, 4g/l RS. ExCellar < €10
Grass and a hint of light apricot, fresh with some attractive depth and concentration. Good.

Prechtl, Grüner Veltliner Reserve 2010, Weinviertel DAC
13%, 5g/l ExCellar €10 to €20
Zesty lime pith, with peach and spicy, firestone notes, good concentration and length.

Hofbauer-Schmidt, Grüner Veltliner Klassik 2010, Weinviertel DAC
12%, 2.9g/l RS. ExCellar < €10
Fresh and peppery, nicely balanced zestiness with herbal hints and upright primary fruits.

Zull, Grüner Veltliner 2010, Weinviertel DAC
12.5% 4g/l RS. ExCellar < €10
Spices and real depth of peaches and cream on the palate. The merest hint of sweetness lifts it all up and accents the extra dimension.  Good.

Ewald Gruber, Grüner Veltliner Reserve Mühlberg 2009, Weinviertel DAC
13.5%, 2.5g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Peachy, steely, soft fruits in a medium bodied wine with decent substance and concentration. Good.

My research trip to Austria was sponsored by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board.

Alzinger, Grüner Veltliner Smaragd, Steinertal, 2009, Wachau
13.5%, 4.2g/l RS
White pepper, spicy and stony, rocky. Dense, succulent. Light, creamy, seamless, silky texture, with fruits of peaches, apricot, jasmine, ginger, nutmeg complexing spices, with tropical fruit essences tantalising the palate.  A wine to dive into and willingly abandon all hope. Outstanding wine.

FX Pichler, Riesling Smaragd, Loibner Steinertal, 2009, Wachau
13%, 7g/l RS
Peachy with nutmeg and ginger nose, lush and succulent, complex and seductive. That tiny hint of sweetness flawlessly balances the long lines of this wonderful nectar. Savoury, steely, rocky notes juxtapose impeccably with rich extract and an exotic spiciness. The eyes roll into the back of the head in wondrous appreciation of this stunningly good elixir.

Roman Horvath MW, the managing director of Domäne Wachau, who led a riesling masterclass at the property in May 2011, calls FX Pichler “the Domaine de la Romanée Conti of white wine producers”, almost all of whose production is at the top, smaragd, level, adding Pichler makes a “pure style, lean, precise, and with no botrytis.”  

Using a small proportion of ripe fruit with noble rot is technique practised to add weight and complexity, and there are two clear schools of thought on the practice. 

Both of these producers are from the topmost drawer, so does the quality come from the vineyard or the producer?  Steinertal has a beautiful reputation, and Horvath neatly summarised this eternal question by saying he views “the composer [of a sublime piece of music] as the terroir and the [orchestra] conductor as the interpreter.  When you are very much into a subject, you know the subtle differences of different conductors.”  

The bottom line is these are exquisite wines.

My research trip to Austria was sponsored by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board.

Vineyards over Vienna

Austria 2010 was pretty tough going, though there are plenty of lovely wines. 

It was one of the lowest volumes in almost 25 years, nearly a third lower than the average yield of 2.5mhl.

Cold and wet weather caused a challenging period for flowering and fruit set, which is the first point of the year when yields can be affected. Champion grape variety grüner veltliner was most affected. Fritz Miesbauer, the winemaker at Stift Göttweig, which has vineyards in Kremstal and the Wachau, said “the first 50% of vegetative period was terrible, cold and wet. Then the weather changed and August, September and November were perfect conditions which helped us have good wines.”

Late harvest is fairly normal, especially in Lower Austria, and as October alternated between dry and wet spells, late picking brought its own rewards, where producers delayed harvesting into November, waiting for grapes to put on ripeness and concentration. Miesbauer said “we picked our main harvest at the end of November, when we normally pick at the end of October or the beginning of November.  But then I’m a fan of late picking.”

In terms of quality, there are plenty of good whites to be had. Coolness throughout has led to elevated acidity levels, and as a result, quite a few wines have a bit more residual sugar than usual to balance this. Miesbauer said “in my cellar fermentations lasted a long time, up to Feb 23, and the end of January/beginning of February for reserve gruner veltliner.  So 2010 had higher acidities and higher residual sugar.  Reserve is normally 2-4g/l, this year it’s nearer 5-6g/l residual sugar.  Acidities are correspondingly higher.  Many vintners had more skin contact – in two days, our acidity dropped 2-3g/l, which helped for more balance.”

It’s a vintage that will fit the cool, classic mould. “A vintner’s vintage” concluded Miesbauer.

Following on from a May 2011 tour of Lower Austria (Niederösterreich), these are some highlights from the 2010 vintage (disparity in number because, for example, only one 2010 vintage from Wachau producers was shown versus over 50 from Kamptal):

Tasting notes, in situ, May 2011

Haindl-Erlacher, Grüner Veltliner 2010, Weinviertel DAC  
12.4%, 2g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Fresh, perky, citrus nose, lifted, grassy, fresh cut grass (quite sauvignon blanc like in this respect), then green and peppery.  Good length.  Good.

Hirtl, Grüner Veltliner Bürsting 2010, Weinviertel DAC
12.5%, 4g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Grass and a hint of light apricot, fresh with some attractive depth and concentration. Good.

Zull, Grüner Veltliner 2010, Weinviertel DAC
12.5% 4g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Spices and real depth of peaches and cream on the palate. The merest hint of sweetness lifts it all up and accents the extra dimension. Good.

Bründlmayer, Grüner Veltliner Kamptaler Terrassen 2010, Kamptal DAC
12%, 2.6g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Fragrant, peachy, aromatic, nice intensit. Spicy and firestone, rich and concentration.

Schloss Gobelsburg, Grüner Veltliner Gobelsburger 2010, Kamptal DAC
12.5%, 2.2g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Peach and pepper nose, steely, acacia, smooth, good concentration of straightforward, dense, primary fruit flavours. Good.

Winzerhof Sax, Grüner Veltliner Zwillingslauser 2010, Kamptal DAC
12.5%, 2.3g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Sweet aromatic pepper on the nose, light white pepper, white peach, light-medium body, attractive purity and elegance. Good.    

Hirsch, Grüner Veltliner Kammerner Heiligenstein 2010, Kamptal DAC
12.5%, 4g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Peach and the beginnings of tropical fruit, full and lush with pineapple, mango of appreciable density and succulent balance. High tasty quotient. Good.  

Arndorfer, Grüner Veltliner Strasser Weinberg 2010, Kamptal DAC
13%, 8.1g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Peach, nectarine, spicy aromatics, dense, ’sweet’ fruits, compote, lush and not quite full. Veering to sweeter balance, and attractive for that. Has richness in non-complex style. Long.

Aichinger, Grüner Veltliner Urgestein 2010, Kamptal DAC
12.5% 5g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Peach and honeyed apples, zesty intense attack, rich with firestone and non-fruity intensity. Big immediate intensity and palate-grabbing flavour, sweet concentration, but not sweet wine. Very good, long.

Eichinger, Grüner Veltliner Reserve Gaisberg 2010, Kamptal DAC
13.3%, 3.5g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Peaches and cream, full fat, tropical and lush fruit, with glycerol sweetness. Rounded style, and good.

Steinschaden, Grüner Veltliner Reserve Gigant 2010, Kamptal DAC
14%, 4.7g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Gunsmoke nose with tropical fruit. Full and rounded in aromatic spicy, and attractive manner. Intensity and concentration with frame and length. Good.  

Brandl, Riesling Heiligenstein 2010, Kamptal DAC
14.5%, 2 g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Cooking apple compote on the nose, perky, fresh, intense, a wine that buzzes the palate and wakes the senses. Lovely balanced just-ripe fruits, crunchy and juicy. Very good.  

Rabl, Riesling Steinhaus 2010, Kamptal DAC
12.5%, 3g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Apples, crunchy, fresh, perky, linear in straightforward way. Super intensity of primary citrus, apples, white pears, with good concentration. Long.

Hiedler, Riesling Steinhaus 2010, Kamptal DAC
12.5%, 5.4g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Apple, citrus, with hint  of pear on the nose. Fresh attack to palate with crunchy ripe, primary fruits of good intensity, well framed and proportioned. Long. Good.

Aichinger, Riesling Reserve Rosenberg 2010, Kamptal DAC
13%, 1g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Peachy, hints of apricot on the nose, and with a gently balanced mid weight tone and texture and fresh, perky core. Well proportioned and balanced.  Good.  

Allram-Haas, Riesling Reserve Gaisberg 2010, Kamptal DAC
13%, 6g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Peachy nose, sweet ripe peaches and preserved lemon fruit on palate. Enticing and moreish, in fresh, intense, primary, non-complex fashion.  Very good.  

Schloss Gobelsburg, Riesling Reserve Kammerner Gaisberg 2010, Kamptal DAC
13%, 7g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Spicy, rich, firestone, peachy, tropical, complex. Lush without being sweet, well framed, strongly proportioned but not muscley.  Lovely and very good.  

Stadt Krems, Grüner Veltliner Reserve Wachtberg 2010, Kremstal DAC
13%, 6g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Peach blossom, hint dry honeyed perfume. Peachy palate, some sweet richness on the mid palate with a smooth and enticing texture. Seamless and fresh. Very good.

Nigl, Grüner Veltliner Reserve Privat Senftenberger Pellingen 2010, Kremstal DAC
14.5%, 2.8g/l RS. >€20
Peaches and cream with a pause for meditative thought right there. Bewitching nose of bass perfume notes, lush with a steely and magnolia-fragrant core in a full body. Slightly mesmerising, and really very good indeed. 

Markus Huber, Grüner Veltliner Reserve Alte Setzen 2010, Traisental DAC
13%, 2.7g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Peaches and cream, medium weight, veering to fresh tropical fruit, sweetly balanced and framed. Well proportioned, with freshness and elegance.  Good.

Heiderer-Mayer, Grüner Veltliner Wagramer Selektion, 2010, Wagram
13%, 3.8g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Gentle, sweetly-spiced nose, Fresh, and nicely balanced with white peachy fruit, and sweet ripeness.  Good.

Veyder-Malberg, Grüner Veltliner Hochrain 2010, Wachau
12.5%, 3g/l RS ExCellar >€20
Gunsmoke with dense peaches and cream, fresh, linear, with huge depth of fruit. Very good.

My research trip to Austria was sponsored by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board.

Blaufränkisch / kékfrankos

The red flight, all made from the same grape variety, called blaufränkisch in Austria and kékfrankos in Hungary (as it happens, also known as lemberger in Germany), and the sweet flight, from each country’s classic botryitised wines, both made perfect comparative sense.

But the white flight was an unfair match, pitting Hungary’s Somló region against Austria’s Wachau. The old volcanic Somló Hill may provide the origin of that region’s best wines, but the ancient primary rock and steep slopes of Wachau viticulture produce more interesting wines.  Added to which, the typical grape varieties grown in Somló – furmint, hárslevelű and olaszrisling – are significantly different from Wachau’s globally-lauded grüner veltliner and riesling.

The Hungarian flight of reds came from four different regions across the country, whilst the Austrians showed the diversity of blaufränkisch across Burgenland.

Blaufränkisch has been developing quietly and successfully as Austria’s flagship red, and in Hungary kékfrankos is the country’s most widely planted red grape variety. In both countries it is made into both blended and single varietal wines.  Fruits of the forest and a rich spiciness of flavour are keynotes of the variety.

If the evidence of this tasting is anything to go by, it’s proving itself to be adaptable to a variety of sites and soils.  Soils varied from rocky loess in Szekszárd, to volcanic andesite in Mátra, to gneiss in Sopron and back to volcanic in Eger, which region neighbours Mátra.  In Austria, notable temperature differences exist between the south and north of Burgenland, with cooler fruit evident in the south.  Soils varied from loam and slate in the south, through clay over shell-limestone, to mica-schist in Leithaberg.

Rocky loess

Silvia Prieler of Weingut Prieler said the diversity of blaufränkisch/kékfrankos styles is “because of different soils. If you plant blaufränkisch on the wrong soil it can have acidity and nothing else, it can be a bit challenging. You need to have clay and rocks for blaufränkisch”, adding “30-35hl/ha is good for quality because it’s a later ripener.”

For the sweets, as one would expect, the botrytis bonanza overrode varietal individuality, whose fundamental contribution is necessarily acidity to balance the lush, spicily-textured botrytis flavours. Thus the Tokajis were all about 70% furmint with the balance of the more aromatic hárslevelű, although six grape varieties are allowed.  On the Austrian side, there is more flexibility of grape variety, with each of the examples shown being from different single grape varieties.

Aszu berries, harvested one by one, are the gold dust of Tokaji.  “If they are over-aged in barrel” said Péter Molnár, the general manager of Patricus Winery said, they “lose the nicest aromatics of apricot, peach, mango and quince.”  

Aszu berries

In Austria sweet wines are made on both sides of steppe lake Neusiedlersee. Heidi Schröck, of her eponymous winery on the west side, where botrytis wines have been made for nearly 500 years, said “without the lake, there would be no botrytis wine. It provides humidity.  And it keeps the heat of day and releases it overnight.”

Tasting notes, London, October 2010

Indigenous white varieties from Somló and Wachau

Somló Abbey Winery, Olaszrizling 2009. Somló
Straw colour, faint oiliness to the nose, in a good way, steely, mildly floral, rich, dry body of fulsome character. Warmth of alcohol (13.5%) at the end of the palate. Smooth texture. Nicely made and proportioned, but no particular personality. Rather soft palate with hints of sweetness erring towards an off-dry status.  

Domaine Kreinbacher, Kőkonyha 2008, Somló
A blend of furmint, harslevelu and olaszrizling.
Straw colour, muted nose, lemon and melon, not so aromatic. Good weight, spiced cream, and fine grainy texture. Warm and rounded texture, but lacking aroma. Nicely balanced, but lacking a little individuality.  

Hollóvár Estate, Hárslevelű 2009, Somló
Lemon-spiced cream. The freshest-tasting of the three, warmth of alcohol (14%) quite evident, not so aromatic, with nutty notes coming through the full-bodied, spicy weight.  

Domäne Wachau, Grüner Veltliner Weissenkirchen Federspiel 2009, Wachau
Fresh, lemon-creme fraiche. Smooth, silky texture, no massive concentration, in accordance with federspiel, gentle and white pepper spicy, easy to appreciate. Uncomplicated and straightforward with a decent finish.

Weingut Knoll, Grüner Veltliner Loibenberg Smaragd  2007
Quite deep lemon colour. Spicy, muted nose, well defined, big volume, depth and concentration of fruit.  Warm, tropical frit, dense and concentrated. Stony, and stone fruit. Elegant with well proportioned body, long finish. Very good.

Domäne Wachau, Riesling Singerriedle Smaragd  2002
Hint of floral petrol emerging on nose, bitumen, honeyed apple, and candied dried pineapple. Rich, concentrated, big volume of fruit. Wafting wood smoke note at back palate from bottle age. Retains some elegance and backbone with age. Mouth-filling, complex, stony, rich, and full; delicious.

Blaufränkisch / kékfrankos: a single red grape variety

Heimann Estate, Baranya-völgyi Kékfrankos 2007, Szekszárd
Medium deep ruby; bright black cherry and tar nose; soft yet crunchy palate, nicely balanced and medium weighted, attractive; alcohol (14%) is entirely integrated.  Approachable wine, not too complex, with some attractive length. Very nice.

Gábor Karner, Vitézföld Kékfrankos 2007, Mátra
Medium deep ruby; oily spice of some new oak influence, fine grained, not-quite-gritty tannins.  Nicely ripe with some chewiness to the core, though the fresh fruit is (currently?) a bit subdued behind the oak tannins. Otherwise nicely balanced and spicy in a medium weighted style. Needs to soften into itself a bit, but looking good.

Ráspi Estate, Gneis Kékfrankos 2007, Sopron
Medium pale, slightly cloudy (a second bottle was the same) cherry colour; wood-smoke and red cherries, slightly reminiscent of a sweet clone pinot noir. Redcurrant, red cherry, sweet, smooth light tannins.  Warmth and sweet fruitiness on the finish, which detracts a little for me.  

Imre Kaló, Kékfrankos 2002, Eger
Medium pale ruby; allspice and crushed cherry compote, hint of mulberry at the back.  Medium to light body, elegant with lovely, delicate concentration and perfume on the palate. Virtually no age showing. Silky smooth texture, with entirely integrated alcohol (14.4%). A revelation for me. Long, bright red berry fruit flavours. Delicious.

Weingut Krutzler, Blaufränkisch Perwolff 2008, Südburgenland
A 5% dollop of cabernet sauvignon is blended into the blaufränkisch in this wine.  Bright, medium deep cherry colour, with a bright, gravelly-graphite nose. There’s a fine chalky note to the fine, young and tight tannins in an elegantly structured whole. Crunchy, bright fruit in a youthful and approachable wine with a long finish.

Weingut Albert Gesellmann, Blaufränkisch Hochberc 2007, Mittelburgenland
Fragrant, wood-smoky, forest-berry fruit nose, warm sweet berries, with youthful, fine -grainy tannins, already mellowing. Medium to full body, erring to rich full body, with rich aromatic spiciness coming through at the end. Smooth mouth-feel, young and well toned, and more than approachable now.  

Weingut Esterhazy, Blaufränkisch Föllig 2008, Burgenland
From Leithaberg: the lake (Neusiedlersee) gives heat and humidity, and the hills, up to 400m, offer coolness and freshness. Bright dark cherry colour. Smoky aromatic oakiness, fine grained and chewy, but not overdone, there’s enough fruit to overcome the oak. Red cherry fruits to the fore on the palate.  This wine has an international-style feel to it – very clean and modern, with perhaps some idiosyncrasy of individually rubbed away.  

Weingut Prieler, Blaufränkisch Goldberg  1999, Burgenland
From Leithaberg. 1999 given as a perfect vintage, to show how blaufränkisch can age.
Warm and fresh berry fruits on the nose. Little real sign of age other than mellow tannins in a rich elegant red-fruit bowl. Just the faintest hint of savoury farmyard. Lovely balance and impression with a long finish. A wholesome and holistic feel to this wine.

Sweet wines of Tokaji and Burgenland

Domaine Disznókő, Tokaji Aszú 6 puttonyos 1999
11.5%, 12.6 g/l TA, 160g/l RS
Amber gold. Complex, oxiditative, nutty, honesuckle, marmalade spectrum, with rich, fresh and tingly acidity. Orange, candied peel, layered, wood-smoke perfume, savoury notes emerging. Delicious, not too sweet perception. Long and complex, but still has freshness.

Patricius Winery, Tokaji Aszú 6 puttonyos 2003
10%, 9.1g/l TA, 185g/l RS
Pale gold, fragrant, muscat-grapey aroma, more fresh fruit, and quite unctuous, bit of lifting VA coming mid-palate. Rich and fully sweet. Lush, luscious. Honeyed, tangerine. Not too much obvious complexity, but could be deceptive, it’s all primary fruit at the moment.

Királyudvar Winery, Tokaji Aszú 6 puttonyos, ‘Lapis Vineyard’ 2005
10%, 11g/l TA, 219g/l RS
Amber-gold, lifting VA, with fat, honeyed, dense, marmalade,. Rich, enveloping sweetness and lushness. Almost full bodied, and with a big, fresh finish, not a hint of cloy. Ripe and dense, young, vibrant. Honeyed, aromatic spicy apricot and quince. Primary fruit to fore.

Heidi Schröck, Furmint Ruster Ausbruch 2007, Burgenland 
12%, 8g/l TA, 228 g/l RS.  100% furmint
Lemon gold. Iodine, lifted VA in a complex nose, spicy, nutty, tropical fruit.  Dense, fat, tropical sweetness in the core, with freshness along the sides of the tongue. Complex palate, savoury and fruity, tropical, quince, tangerine, many layered and enticing. Very long finish.

Weingut Esterhazy, Welschriesling Trockenbeerenauslese “Kulm” 2004, Burgenland
10.5%, 12 g/l TA, 257 g/l RS. 100% welschriesling
Rich, gold colour; smoky and bright oakiness. Clean and ‘international’, with only modest individuality.  Big, fat, a bit more straightforward, with richly honeyed, quince fruits and a fresh finish.  

Weingut Kracher, Scheurebe TBA Nr. 11 2006, Neusiedlersee, Burgenland
9%, 7.9 g/l TA, 299 g/l RS. 100% scheurebe.
Golden colour. Bright elderflower aroma on nose. Light and intense nose, and intense palate. Richly fruity, elderflower, perfume, white blossom. Lightness of being with immense concentration. Stunningly good. All fresh, zingy, primary fruit. Long finish.

To communicate the ‘premier cru’ sites – Erste Lagen – and the wines to consumers, a trademarked logo is printed alongside the vineyard name on the label. Only the 23 member estates of the Traditionsweingüter Österreich are allowed to use this logo.

The classification has been a while in the making.  In 1992 seven wineries in the Danube region founded the group, to make wines which reflect their origin, and with the long-term aim of identifying their best vineyard sites, according to both ripeness and terroir, or specific site.

Willi Bründlmayer, of one of the original founding wineries, Weingut Bründlmayer, said “Traditionsweingüter Österreich was founded to work on vineyard classification in the beginning. We were also doing tastings and promotions together, but the basic focus was vineyard classification.” He added “all the vineyards have a long tradition, for many years making very good grüner veltliner or riesling.”  Weingut Hiedler was another founding member. Maria Angeles Hiedler said “after 20 years we know which sites are continually producing top wines.”

The group was in part prompted to announce their classification by the introduction of DAC appellations in parts of the Danube region, because, said Michael Moosbrugger, president of the Traditionsweingüter Österreich association (and general manager of Schloss Gobelsburg), the “Erste Lage is the logical continuation of the DAC system.” 

The DAC in Kamptal, Kremstal and Traisental is only for grüner veltliner  and riesling, and so is the new vineyard site classification.  The classification includes four sites in Wagram, which does not have a DAC appellation, but is in the Danube basin.  Moosbrugger said “we apply the same rules as for the other regions, so grüner veltliner and riesling, dry.” As the DAC system is evolving, there is a chance that in the future Wagram will join the DAC.

Bründlmayer emphasised the wines from Erste Lage “must stay in the DAC taste frame and be typical for the year.” 

Moosbrugger explained that such linking of site and origin with wine was also something of a reversion to how Austrian wines used to be known. He said “until World War II, Austrian wines were known by village names, and with a stylistic expression, such as Kremser, Langenloiser and Gumpoldskircher. Everyone more or less knew what style of wine to expect.”

After the second world war, with increasing mechanisation and the ready availability of tractors in the classic mixed agriculture farms, Moosbrugger said “vineyards were replanted [to allow use of tractors], and individual varieties were planted [in blocks], not as field blends. No one knew which direction things would develop, so farmers still planted all the different grape varieties” which helps to explain the plethora of grape varieties grown in many regions.

By the 1960s and 70s farmers were learning which were the best-adapted varieties to their regions, so by “the end of the 80s, only grüner veltliner  and riesling were left” in the Danube area, said Moosbrugger.

1er Cru Kamptal vineyards

For these two grape varieties, he said there are two archetypes of vineyard in the Danube region, “terraces, on the river Danube and its tributaries, of stones and low water supply which are ideal for riesling, and vineyards based on loess and clay – deeper soil with a better water supply – which are ideal for grüner veltliner.”

What with the introduction of DAC and regions looking to identify the continually best-performing sites, Moosbrugger said “we’re in the middle of a change from explaining Austrian wine culture from grapes to origin. But we cannot stop at the regional level. As top producers, we are working with single vineyards.”

Neither the group nor the classification is a closed shop. Moosbrugger said they are completely open and would be happy and hopeful for others to join in the conversation.

Whereas the DAC appellations are legally defined in law, this producer-led classification of 52 sites has no legally defined basis. Mind you, the 1855 Bordeaux classification started off as a composite price list of the time drawn up by the industry. It has largely withstood the test of time.  The new Erste Lagen also tend to be the more highly priced wines from the Danube area.  And the group does not rule out a legal definition, though, Moosbrugger said “we have started a process that I expect to last for the next 20 to 30 years. The classification is far from finished.” But certainly, he added, an official classification is one of the long term aims.

At the moment the trademarked logo is the obligatory and visible part of the classification system. The logo indicates the wine comes from one of the best-regarded 9% of vineyards in the four Danube regions.

Vineyard classification, 2010

Source:  M. Moosbrugger, pers. comm., July 29, 2010

1

30

2

5

3

20

4

19

5

20

6

10

7

10

8

35

9

30

10

30

11

35

12

18

13

17

14

8

15

30

16

5

17

1.8

18

25

19

35

20

5

21

20

22

10

23

25

24

25

25

7.5

26

5.5

27

3.6

28

9

29

1.5

30

5

31

7

32

33

33

1

34

1.5

35

5

36

50

37

2.8

38

50

39

10

40

10

41

5

42

13

43

13

44

5

45

20

46

6

47

15

48

5

49

35

50

37

51

30

52

35

Source:  M. Moosbrugger, president of the Traditionsweingüter Österreich, pers. comm., July 29, 2010

Sources: Austrian Wine Marketing Board data and pers. comms., 2010.

As France has Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AoC) and Italy has DOC/G, (Denominazione di Origine Controllata (e Garantita)) so Austria has developed DAC, or Districtus Austriae Controllatus (controlled Austrian districts). 

While it may take some time for the new system to bed in, one of the aims is to simplify things for consumers. This is no bad thing considering the level of fragmentation in Austria’s wine growing culture – around 17,000 producers vie for 52,500 hectares (ha), giving an average vineyard holding of just 3 ha.  Factor in more than 30 different grape varieties to this picture and wine, already a confusing category, begins to resemble kaleidoscopic possibilities.

What the DAC does, is find which one or two grape varieties each region has been doing best for some years.  It then retro-fits these varieties in each region into an appellation system, enshrining in law the ‘typical’ style for each selected grape variety that has evolved over the last quarter of a century and longer.  

The idea is that consumers, rather than being confused by the plethora of producers and varieties, will be able to choose a DAC wine, knowing approximately what style of wine to expect, as they might do now for Bordeaux or Côtes du Rhône.

Another major benefit of an appellation system is geographic protection. The EU brought in new wine laws in 2009, effectively bringing wine under the same labelling as food, for example Parma ham can only come from Parma, Stilton can only come from three named counties in England, Jersey Royal potatoes from Jersey etc.  All have a ‘protected designation of origin’ or PDO. It protects a unique product/place combination.

The new wine laws effectively made all top level wine appellations the equivalent of PDO – so AoC in France, DOC/G in Italy, DO/Ca in Spain … and DAC in Austria are all PDO.  Some producers may choose to label their wines as such, while others may keep to the well established monikers.

Back to Austria …

Weinviertel kicked off the DAC idea in 2002.  It is the biggest, most diffuse vine growing region with a third of the entire country’s vine plantings, and with arguably one of the least well-recognised names, even now. It’s easy to understand that pinning its colours to the mast of a single grape variety might help the region to develop a clearer image both domestically and on export markets, even though at least 35 different grape varieties are grown in the region.

As grüner veltliner accounts for the half the region’s plantings, this was an easy choice.

Ulrike Hager, managing director of the Weinviertel wine committee highlighted the fragmentation of Weinviertel: with 7,000 producers, and only 500 of them owning more than 5 ha, finding a wine and coming back to it can be challenging. For a consumer arriving in Weinviertel and wanting to try a typical wine from the region, it is inordinately confusing.  She said “if the consumer doesn’t know the individual vintner, it is easier to choose a DAC, which has a clear and distinctive tasting profile.”

Certainly the region’s early adoption was a strategy to improve the Weinviertel brand image, as the region had previously been better known for its cheap wines, with the exception of a handful of high quality producers, including the likes of Graf Hardegg, Weinrieder and Zull.

DAC wine must conform to certain style parameters, agreed within each region, and it is awarded on an annual basis by a blind-tasting panel. So far for Weinviertel up to 50% fail the quality taste test, which illustrates the still variable quality in this diffuse region. And it highlights that if DAC is meeting minimum standards then this must be good news for consumers.  Wines that have failed the DAC taste test are labelled just with the generic region. In the case of Weinviertel, Niederösterreich.

Any so-called ‘quality wines’ (one of those EU definitions, meaning PDO wines) from grüner veltliner made outside of the DAC rules in Weinviertel, and all wines made from any of the other 30+ grape varieties grown in Weinviertel must be labelled simply as Niederösterreich. The idea here is to continue to allow freedom of expression by individual growers using any of the 35 grape varieties permitted for this top level of wine – quality, or PDO, wine. 

And where the DAC is seen as aspirational, it is also an opportunity for small producers to invest in the quality of their production.  So for Weinviertel, with its historic reputation for entry level bulk wine, the benefits of DAC outweigh any disadvantages.

But to take part in the DAC, producers must conform to the style and flavour bracket from the permitted variety/ies, so grüner veltliner for Weinviertel. Weinviertel DAC wine must be dry, with a maximum 6g/l residual sugar and a minimum 12% alcohol. It must not have either wood influence or botrytis influence and the flavour profile must include a distinct spicy white pepper note among the fruit.  So, if it says Weinviertel DAC on the label, it should always be a gentle, spicy white-peppery grüner veltliner in a light to medium weight style.

More generally, DAC wines can be in more than one style – so far two – classic (light to medium weight, fruit focused, easier-drinking) and reserve (fuller bodied, richer, more age-worthy). Indeed, from the 2009 vintage, Weinviertel has added a ‘reserve’ style. The wines must retain the characteristic pepperiness, and reserve wines must be dry, more robust and richer than the classic style. Botrytis and wood notes are acceptable. Minimum alcohol is 13%.  

All DAC wines are dry, being defined as less than 9g/l residual sugar, though individual DACs may have tighter tolerances.

Outside Wienviertel…

Since 2002, another six regions have signed up to DAC.  In all but one either grüner veltliner and riesling or blaufränkisch are the chosen varieties. 

In the Danube basin, Kamptal, Kremstal and Traisental have adopted DAC for grüner veltliner and riesling, which in all three areas comprise nearly two-thirds of plantings. In all three regions, both classic and reserve interpretations are permitted.

In Burgenland, Mittelburgenland and Eisenberg have declared classic and reserve DAC for blaufränkisch. Still in Burgenland, Leithaberg has broken the mould slightly by creating DAC for red, from blaufränkisch, and white from any of weissburgunder (pinot blanc), chardonnay, neuburger and grüner veltliner, singly or in combination. 

Here’s a summary of the evolving Austrian wine law

Sources: Austrian Wine Marketing Board data and pers. comms., 2010.

Wachau Vineyards

In all of this, Wachau is probably the biggest anomaly.  This region, at the far end of the Danube, has had its own classification, controlled by Vinea Wachau Nobilis Districtus since 1984, before any idea of appellations in Austria was conceived. Here again, riesling and grüner veltliner are the dominant varieties, covering two-thirds of the region’s vineyards.  However, the Wachau classification is in three style levels:  steinfeder, federspiel, smaragd.  Classic is closer to federspiel and steinfeder, reserve to smaragd.

The approach to creating a DAC is predicated on viticultural practices that have evolved over time, selecting the grape varieties that are the ones which have taken on a dominant, well-adapted position in a region’s plantings. Each region has observed their own archetypal expression of their chosen grape variety/ies, and packaged them up into the DAC.  So the DAC is formalising what is evolving anyway.  Any wines meeting the DAC criteria and style paradigm, and passing the tasting panel become DAC. 

However, producers are not prevented from growing other varieties, or indeed DAC varieties, and making a style outside the parameters of DAC requirements.  Such wines are just labelled whatever is the generic region.  Thus sauvignon blanc from Kamptal would be labelled ’Sauvignon Blanc, Niederösterreich’.  Or a grüner veltliner from Zobinger Heiligenstein not conforming to DAC rules could be labelled ‘Grüner Veltliner Zöbinger Heiligenstein Niederösterreich’. 

A producer’s portfolio can contain both DAC and non-DAC wines.

As well as formalising part of current practice, DAC puts a regional ticket on a block of wines, the same way Bordeaux, Rhône, Rioja, Chianti and Barolo do. As in these other regions, permitted grape varieties are specified – Bordeaux is cabernet sauvignon and merlot, Barolo is nebbiolo etc. 

And it is this origin, this regional ticket, that is protected under EU law.  The DAC names are protected, so, for example, only grapes grown in Kamptal can make a Kamptal wine, but grüner veltliner grown anywhere can be called grüner veltliner.  That Kamptal DAC is grüner veltliner, and riesling, now becomes the unwritten knowledge, as cabernet sauvignon and merlot are for Bordeaux.  And as there are many different types and styles of ‘terroir’ in the more well-established European regions, so it is with the evolving Austrian DACs. It is not an attempt to link a particular pedo-climatic complex with a particular grape variety and style.

The DAC system brings Austrian wine into line with that existing in most other European regions, and it focuses on a few well and widely established grape varieties. For folk new to Austrian wine, it could just be a safe starting point.

But what about using a small proportion of ‘good botrytis’ in dry white wines, notably riesling but not restricted to this variety? So-called ‘good botrytis’ because it is the same mould as that which causes grey rot/bunch rot/bad botrytis, where infected grapes must be thrown away because they give a rotten fruit taste to wine.

Bunch with healthy grapes and botrytis-affected grapes

There are two schools of thought on this issue, which Roman Horvath MW, the managing director of Domäne Wachau outlined for the Wachau region of Austria, saying some producers, such as “Franz Hirtzberger work with botrytis. I call them the masters of botrytis. There has to be a very exact picking time, almost with half-day precision. And with even more picking passes through the vineyard. Others, such as Rudi Pichler, focus on elegance, minerals, purity and precision. We are more on the side of Rudi Pichler and Alzinger.”

Indeed for the 2009 vintage Mathias Hirtzberger of Weingut Franz Hirtzberger said “usually we use 5 to 10% botrytis. These are wines for 10 years’ ageing, and our smaragds will age for much more. The wines have a lot of alcohol, acid and sugar as we aim to harvest the grapes very ripe.  It’s always about the taste.”

Such use of ‘good’ or ‘dry’ botrytis usually results in wines of higher alcohol, 14 to 14.5%, rather than 13 to 13.5%. The wines are more concentrated, with greater weight, though not necessarily with more residual sweetness to them, as this is likely to have been fermented out. Lucas Pichler, the winemaker at Weingut F.X. Pichler explained further, saying with good botrytis you get “more deepness, more extract, especially for riesling. It’s not so important for grüner veltliner because you lose a bit of the pepperiness of grüner veltliner.”

It’s this potential masking effect that deters other producers. Leo Alzinger of Weingut Alzinger explained “we use dry botrytis as little as possible. The wines are more focused without botrytis. They are more reflective of their terroir. Wines start to age after one year with botrytis. And with more botrytis there is more alcohol, plus aromas which cover the terroir.” 

Cleanliness of fruit and precision of focus are important drivers for ‘no-botrytis’ proponents. Also in the Wachau, Peter Veyder-Malberg of Weingut Veyder-Malberg said “botrytis destroys the character of the grapes and the character of vineyard.  With riesling, when I see bunches start with botrytis, I cut the whole bunch and make the wine, leaving other [completely healthy] bunches on the vine. Three weeks later I can harvest sound bunches. But it means I harvest quite early.”  He added “I tell my workers to select each berry which they would choose not to eat and throw it away.” 

Wachau vineyards close to river Danube

The ‘to B or not to B’ question appears most pertinent for the Wachau, at the western, coolest extreme of Danubian viticulture in Austria, where the vineyards are close to the river and botrytis is more likely to creep into the vines at the end of the growing season.  Horvath said “botrytis is part of the microclimate here [Wachau] in October. You can’t avoid it.”

Almost next door to the Wachau, in Kamptal, where the vineyards are a little bit further from the mist-creating river, said Willi Bründlmayer, of Weingut Bründlmayer, “Kamptal has a tradition to work without botrytis.”  Though he’s not dogmatic on the question, adding “In 2001 we harvested with botrytis because it was a high acid year and the botrytis softened it out to balance the wine. Normally it’s not our style [to use botrytis]. I like straightforward, clean grapes.”

Bründlmayer also believes botrytis masks terroir effects saying “It should taste like riesling, like Heiligenstein, like the vintage.  Botrytis gives complexity, makes you a winner in a blind tasting, but if you want to drink the wines, then you need no botrytis.” 

Fellow Kamptal vintner Weingut Hiedler has moved away from this winemaking style. Maria Angeles Castellanos-Hiedler said “we used to use dry botrytis. In the last five years we’ve refined the winemaking and now try to have as little as possible. We like to have clear wines.  The botrytis means the wine is not ‘quiet’, it tastes very spicy. We want clear and clean tastes.”

This theme was picked up by Johannes Hirsch of Weingut Hirsch, who said “botrytis lays over the terroir, it hides typicity”, adding “petrol notes come earlier with botrytis.”

The subject came up at a May 2010 Global Riesling tasting in Vienna, hosted by the Institute of Masters of Wine. Rowald Hepp, managing director of Schloss Vollrads in the Rheingau region of Germany, said “botrytis can add complexity in dry riesling, but makes it more difficult to keep single vineyard expression. Terroir and botrytis is a tricky pairing. We avoid it in our dry wines.”

Ultimately the use of dry botrytis is just one winemaking option with a resulting style outcome. If the complexity imparted by botrytis adds layers of interest, dimension and texture to a wine that the drinker enjoys, it doesn’t matter if terroir or even varietal character is obscured. Some would argue terroir obscures varietal character. It depends on what the winemaker wants to achieve.

If the wine is tasty, job done, with or without botrytis.

Austrian vineyards

Whilst quality was evidently high, volumes in the adjoining Danube regions of Wachau, Kremstal, Kamptal and Traisenthal were down about 30% in the two key varietals – grüner veltliner  and riesling.  Indeed Mathias Hirtzberger of Weingut Franz Hirtzberger said “we had only 40% of our normal riesling harvest for Singerriedel [vineyard site], and we’ve sold out”.

Roman Horvath MW, the managing director of Domäne Wachau said “2009 was a great vintage in Wachau and the neighbouring regions. We had strong rainfall at end of September which caused a ‘bad’ botrytis infection. But as the most western wine region, the grapes here were not as soft as elsewhere, so we did not have such a big loss. We had more time to work in the vineyard.”

Also in the Wachau, Leo Alzinger of Weingut Alzinger added “2009 was not easy because of the rainfall in mid-September. Both good and bad botrytis started, and we had to select out the good from the bad.”  This took some effort. Where they normally harvest 60kg/hour, in 2009 Alzinger harvested at a rate of just 5kg/hour. But Alzinger said “it’s very good quality.” As you’d hope after all that effort.

Horvath added “it’s a very balanced year, and more concentrated than 2008. If people worked well in vineyard, there is a pure, precise fruit expression.”  This theme was picked up by Maria Angeles Castellanos-Hiedler of Weingut Hiedler in the Kamptal who said the vintage showed great “purity and juiciness of fruit. There was no botrytis in 2009. There was lots of sunlight, giving pure fruits and fine minerality.”

Wachau vineyards

That rain at flowering was an issue, reducing the crop. Hiedler continued “the wind and rain began at the end of May, beginning of June. It was bad for quantity, but good for quality because [the poor flower fertilisation] resulted in loose bunches which then concentrated their fruit flavours.”

Fellow Kamptal vintner Johannes Hirsch of Weingut Hirsch picked up the rainy theme, but added “2009 finished with super healthy fruit in mid-October, which is normal. We never had so perfect riesling, and the grüner veltliners are fine and minerally. We didn’t expect this after the rainiest June in 200 years.”

On the opposite side of the Danube from Kamptal, Markus Huber of Weingut Huber in Traisental said “2009 was one of the best vintages in the last ten years. A cool growing season with low yields resulted in concentrated grapes. Physiological ripeness was quite late and there is enough acidity to balance the richness.”  

Kamptal vineyards

A little further east along the Danube, heading towards Vienna lies Wagram, less completely focused on grüner veltliner  and riesling, but still accounting for a worthy amount of production. Here there was less rainfall in September than further west, but the June rain was still “something like a flood” according to Franz Leth, of Weingut Leth, when “160mm of rain fell in three days.  Hailstorms in the beginning of August, followed by three weeks of very hot weather made 2009 a vintage of weather extremes.”

But, Leth added “we were luckier than western areas of Danube, because we had little rainfall in September, so it was not such hard work selecting in the vineyard.” But volumes are still down around 30% in Wagram. 

Despite the periodic rains, Willhelm Hamm, director of the wine estate, Weingut Stift Klosterneuburg, also in Wagram was optimistic, saying “from mid July to end Oct we had most beautiful weather you could imagine. We had a long vegetative period and therefore long hang time, and we didn’t have extremely high temperatures above 32 to 33°C. “

The June rains may have reduced the flowering and thus the yield across the regions of the river Danube, but such  a yield reduction this early in the season means top producers don’t have to do so much green harvesting in later months. The looser bunches that resulted were nicely aerated, and fruit flavours subsequently concentrated. Growers spoke of vineyard work and very high quality wines.

Brief tasting highlights of the 2009 vintage. May 2010, at Vievinum in Vienna.

General, for both grüner veltliner and riesling at this level.

• All these are excellent wines, with unjustly brief notes.
• Just a couple from each producer
• Silkiness and persistence of texture throughout;
• Elegance and lightness of deportment allied with sometimes amazing depth and density.

Wachau

Weingut Alzinger, Grüner Veltliner Mühlpoint Smaragd, 2009, Wachau
Spicy with fresh/dry combo. Has weight and definition, long, strong, elegant stony palate. purity and spiciness.

Weingut Alzinger, Riesling Loibenberg Smaragd, 2009, Wachau
Apricot and citrus density, fresh, aromatic spices in a lush/fresh combo. Laser precision.

Weingut Franz Hirtzberger, Grüner Veltliner  Rotes Tor Smaragd, 2009, Wachau
Cream/spice combo, great weight and flavour intensity. Long

Weingut Franz Hirtzberger,  Riesling Hochrain Smaragd, 2009, Wachau
Crisp citrus fruit, apricot, precision with youthful energy and weight.

Weingut F. X Pichler, Grüner Veltliner  Loibnerberg Smaragd 2009, Wachau
Fresh-cream, soft pepperiness, fresh and integrated

Weingut F. X Pichler, Riesling Loibnerberg Smaragd 2009, Wachau
Immediate lushness, purity and definition, density and length.

Weingut Veyder-Malberg, Grüner Veltliner  Hochrain 2009, Wachau
Citrus cream-spice. Palate opulence, depth, purity and length.   

Weingut Veyder-Malberg, Riesling Buschenberg 2009, Wachau
Peach and apricot, lush-dry combo, dense flavour with stunning depth and early complexity.

Domäne Wachau, Grüner Veltliner Kaiserberg Federspiel 2009, Wachau
(federspiel = lighter style). Citrus pith then white pepper, clean and defined. Light and refreshing, with attractive substance.

Domäne Wachau, Riesling Achleiten Smaragd, 2009, Wachau
Stone fruits and stoniness, tight/dry combo with fruit density, focus, deportment and long finish.

Kamptal

Weingut Willi Bründlmayer, Grüner Veltliner  Käferberg 2009, Kamptal Reserve DAC, Erste Lage 
(reserve style) Fresh, creamy, density, rich and dry with soft spice pepper.

Weingut Willi Bründlmayer, Riesling Heiligenstein 2009, Kamptal Reserve DAC, Erste Lage 
(reserve style) Tropical and citrus, juicy and blossoming, dry/lush combo.

Weingut Hiedler, Grüner Veltliner Thal 2009, Kamptal Reserve DAC, Erste Lage
(reserve style) Soft, spicy lift, then fresh with a fat-dry combo; layered pepper and pith, dense and long.

Weingut Hiedler, Riesling Gaisberg 2009, Kamptal Reserve DAC, Erste Lage
(reserve style) Limey pith, citrus weight and purity. Focus and balance. juicy and immediately delicious.

Weingut Hirsch, Riesling Zöbing 2009, Kamptal DAC
(Lighter style) Lighter style. lime juiciness, energetic in its vibrant youth.

Weingut Hirsch, Riesling Zöbinger Heiligenstein 2009, Kamptal DAC, Erste Lage
(reserve style) Citrus pith, aromatic tropical spices, density and volume in the mouth.

Weingut Schloss Gobelsburg, Grüner Veltliner Gobelsburger 2009, Kamptal DAC
(lighter style). Fresh, light, lemon-cream; intense floral and pepper.

Weingut Schloss Gobelsburg, Riesling Heiligenstein 2009, Kamptal Reserve DAC, Erste Lage
(reserve style). Piquant aromatic spice, tropical fruit, dense and perky prickle on tongue; deft and complex.

Traisental

Weingut Markus Huber, Grüner Veltliner Obere Steigen 2009, Traisental DAC
(lighter style). light, peppery, citrus pith, attractive pepperiness with nice bit of fat.

Weingut Markus Huber, Riesling Berg 2009, Traisental Reserve DAC, Erste Lage
(reserve style) Rich, tropical/fresh combo, lime notes, round and long.

Heiligenstein vineyard, Kamptal

This hillside vineyard was first mentioned in the Zwettl abbey register of 1280 as “Hellenstein”, or hell stone, because it was a mountain on which the sun “burns like hell”.  It was later renamed Heiligenstein, or “holy rock”, in possibly in an early form of political correctness.

The Heiligenstein is a unique geological formation – a geological island – within Europe, dating to the Permian period some 250 to 270 million years ago, comprising an extrusion of desert sandstone with volcanic and carboniferous conglomerates.

Digging deeper into a more detailed meaning of ‘primary rock’ or ‘urgestein’ reveals many layers.  “In ancient times there were very high mountains here.” explained Willi Bründlmayer of the eponymous Kamptal estate Weingut Bründlmayer. “There was an erosion of 300-1,000m, which left some rock stumps.  These rock stumps are primary rock.  The rocks are silicate, gneiss, granite, amphibolites. Then 250 million years ago, erosion residues and volcanic material and vegetation residues had built up. Later this mixed material compressed over a long time, and changed to soft rock. This was then pushed up again tectonically. What remains are Heiligenstein and Lamm vineyards.

Willi Bründlmayer holding primary rock

Hannes Hirsch of the eponymous estate Weingut Hirsch, added that after the “volcanic activity there was consistent vegetation 250m years ago which left roots and leaves, layers and layers of which built up. A shallow ocean then came in, then tectonic movement which pushed out the Permian material again.”

This complex ancient geology plus centuries of viticulture have resulted in a detailed map of vineyards matched to grape variety, mostly either riesling or grüner veltliner, which now account for 80% or more of plantings in Kamptal.  Bründlmayer said “Heiligenstein is more to the west, cooler, poorer, and better adapted for riesling. There’s no grüner veltliner.  Lamm has a layer of chalk-rich loess and loam, it’s a richer soil, warmer.  It’s suited to rich styles of grüner veltliner.” The Lamm vineyard, lying on the lower slopes below the Heiligenstein vineyard, has a primary rock base underneath the loess and loam. 

Bründlmayer added “riesling is better planted directly in the primary rock, and grüner veltliner prefers the addition of some rich material – sediment, loam, loess.”

Detail of Kamptal vineyards

The Gaisberg vineyard, to the immediate south-east of Heiligenstein, marks the end of the ancient massif coming down from the north, and is founded on primary rock of gneiss and mica-schist. Hirsch said: “you can break it up, it’s schistous with a brown earth layer. And the eastern part of the vineyard has a loess covering, which came from the east”.  Gaisberg is often planted to riesling.

Heiligenstein and ‘primary rock’ are only ever spoken in the same breath, but primary rock is a term used elsewhere for soils coming from this very old rock. Much of nearby Wachau has granite and gneiss primary rock at its foundation, and the primary rock soils have been divided into the three main camps of granite, gneiss and slate.

Over the geological time of millennia, rocks have been variously heated, cooled, compressed and tectonically moved. Granite is a mineral-rich rock formed of molten material. Gneiss can be formed by changes in heat and pressure. Slate can be the product of sedimented erosion material which has been metamorphosed by heat or pressure.

Soils derived from primary rock are often thin and low in organic matter and fertility, a layer of crumbly rock at the surface with the bedrock 20 to 30 cm below.

The importance of primary rock is the structure and flavour profile found in the wines.  Primary rock is strongly argued to confer ‘minerality’ into the wines.  Bründlmayer said: “On the rocky hillsides, grape berries are smaller. It’s not about the 3, 4, 5 principal elements, it’s about the hundreds of elements.  Heiligenstein is silicate with an acidic element and 250 million year old organic matter.  Roots take many different minerals in many different micro-doses.  It contributes to a wine.”

As yet though, exactly, scientifically, how those mineral-laden rocks confer minerality in wine is yet to be unearthed, as it were. Read here for a discussion about minerality.

In a 2002 tasting overseen by Jancis Robinson MW, grüner veltliner notably beat all-comer chardonnays into third place (even that chardonnay was Austrian). The top Burgundy in the event got 18^th slot.

Kamptal

As with other high quality white grape varieties such as chardonnay and riesling, grüner veltliner can be made in a range of styles, from light-bodied, simple, quaffing wine, to the seriously concentrated, rich and full-blooded (even for a white wine). The latter invariably have a degree or two more alcohol than the former. 

Alcohol is a preservative, so this may have some part to play in bottle longevity. Though some long-lived German rieslings have less than 10% alcohol (but perhaps compensate with alternative preservative, residual sugar.)

New oak rarely features with grüner veltliner. Though its tannins might provide some preserving influence, the dominant flavour of new oak is evidently thought to be too much for the relatively aromatic grüner veltliner variety.

Pre-fermentation skin maceration is another point of discussion and Willi Bründlmayer, of his eponymous estate in Kamptal, suggested the extraction of too many phenolics might detract from longevity in bottle.  He said: “I prefer whole bunch pressing with ripe grüner veltliner. I don’t like overloaded wines but ones with discreet, subdued personality and elegance. Oak fermentation is possible but not necessary for great grüner veltliner; personally I like larger acacia casks which are good for maturing on fine lees.”    

As with riesling, the malo-lactic fermentation is usually blocked on grüner veltliner.  During a tasting of aged grüner veltliners on an Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) trip to Austria in 2002, Michi Moosbrugger of Schloss Gobelsburg, also in Kamptal, said “we tried a small proportion of malo in 1997, an excellent vintage with early flowering and a long summer, to see, but we didn’t like the results for several years.” Five years later they liked it more, but Moosbrugger added, you “lose very many elements that are seen as typical aspects of grüner veltliner  – the varietal character changes and it goes to an international style.”

Steep Wachau slopes

A further issue for longevity is whether to use a proportion of fruit affected with ‘good botrytis’, as in noble rot, rather than the rotting-to-mouldy-mush grey botrytis which results from too much damp and rain as berries are nearing ripeness. Bründlmayer said during the 2002 IMW tasting he believed “grüner veltliner with botrytis does not age so well. It makes the evolution of the wine dangerous” without expanding on how, but a certain type of rusticity is said to evolve. 

Sepp Mantler of Mantlerhof in Kremstal agreed with the point about botrytis, adding they were “showing wines from one vineyard (Spiegel), from years with no botrytis, and only good years.”

Today, both a lighter style (lighter bodied, lighter in alcohol – 11-12%) and a denser, richer style (more body, more vinosity, more alcohol – 13.5-14.5%) of grüner veltliner are made, as well as in-between styles.  At the 2002 IMW tasting, it was noticed that several of the older wines, from the 1960s and 1970s, were made in the lighter style, picking early to avoid high phenolics and high alcohol, which also meant acidities were a bit higher.  The more recent style is for later harvest, greater ripeness with the concomitant higher alcohol and lower acidity.

Some of these lighter-styled grüner veltliners showed really well. The 1979 grüner veltliner  from Lenz Moser, (2002 tasting) with 11.8% alcohol, had taken on toast, brioche and lanolin characters that might equally have described an aged Australian Semillon or an aged white Burgundy. It was well balanced with a silky texture and an elegance without power, which would concord with the alcohol level.

Similarly, Salomon’s 1987 grüner veltliner Undhof Wieden (2002 tasting) was still showing attractive tightness and linearity of structure, with great youth of citrus and white pepper spiciness. All this with just 12% alcohol.

Gobelsburg’s 1987 grüner veltliner ‘Cabinet’ (2002 tasting)  in the lighter style – 11.8% alcohol – still showed amazing freshness for a lighter style; it had developed the by now familiar toasty nose, but was also taking on a faint savoury and slightly metallic character. Perhaps a limit of ageing for the lighter styles exists.

These two 1987s showed well despite it being a late vintage of average quality, lying in the shadow of both 1985 and 1986.

Schloss Gobelsburg’s 1967 grüner veltliner from the slopes of Gaisberg, (2002 tasting), with 12.4%, was a remarkable wine, both delicious and elegant, though these two are obviously not mutually exclusive. Dense fruit, with tobacco and dry, honeyed, toast notes created a lovely balance with some fresh biscuity flavours coming through.

Generally though, it was the richer, more unctuous styles, still perceptively dry, that came into their own with some age, at both the IMW tasting, and at the Austrian Wine Summit during 2009, where international specialists in the wine sector are invited on detailed tours by the Austrian Wine Marketing organisation. 

Mantlerhof’s Spiegel grüner veltliner from 1977, (2002 tasting) with a hint of residual sugar in its richer style was a honeyed, rich, dense wine, but still supple, with a silky texture, luscious-yet-dry tropical and yellow fruits. The deep golden colour belied its youth, and indeed colour of wine proved to be no predictor of age or potential.

Bründlmayer’s  Loiser Berg from 1975 (2002 tasting) was remarkably fresh, with just 11.5%, honeyed and silky, and very nicely balanced. His 1969 Kirchengarten, with 13.5% was toasty, with lanolin notes, rich, dense, sweet fruit and beautiful balance, density and concentration, combining elegance and power with subtlety and harmony.

Aged grüner veltliner tasting line up

In the 2009 tasting, Bründlmayer’s grüner veltliner  Lamm 1995, also showed prowess, with a steely, cream and lemon toast on the nose and attack. Non-fruity notes were developing on the medium-bodied palate. The intensity and still-freshening acidity gave the wine a refined and powerful demeanour. A wine of elegance, structure and refinement. For his ageing goals on grüner veltliner, Bründlmayer said: “there is no single component to be responsible for ‘matureability’ but a rich character without predominance of acidity, tannins, alcohol or whatever, and enough ‘hidden potential’ to make a maturing process worthwhile.”

The Alzinger grüner veltliner Reserve 2001, from eastern Wachau, was another star from the 2009 tasting. The Reserve is a blend of more than one vineyard. The wine showed no real evidence of any age, and its 14.5% alcohol was perfectly integrated.  Aromas and flavours were of apple, baked, citrus, dry honey and steel.  A creamy hint was developing on the palate, which had a lovely balance, both intense and concentrated, with a finish to linger over. 

Another wine showing no signs of age was Proidl’s grüner veltliner Ehrenfels 1999, from Kremstal. A lemon yellow colour gave was to citrus and intense yellow fruits exploding on the mid-palate. This was a very youthful wine still with its primary fruit spectrum, and showing an amazing freshness and length.

Nikolaihof’s grüner veltliner Vinothek 1991, from Wachau deserves special mention. These guys are pretty unique. This wine was aged in big old casks for 15 years, only being bottled in 2006, so this is something of a cask-aged/bottle-aged hybrid, and completely delightful for that. They’re also biodynamic.  The wine had notes of steel, honeysuckle, and something almost petrol-like. It showed baked lemon on the reasonably light bodied palate (just 12.5% in this wine), along with a linearity rather than explosive mid-palate. Still no real signs of ageing, but an elegant, subtle wine, that lingered almost in the imagination.  

These sorts of tastings throw up far more questions than they can ever answer. But it is a privilege to be involved with them, and it’s a great intellectual and hedonistic pursuit. Not least because it’s estimated that 95% of grüner veltliner is drunk within three years of the harvest.

Ten to fifteen years seems like a reasonable band for the ageing of the best of these wines, which is probably as much as you’d expect for most white wines, though there were one or two extraordinary examples of note that were older than this.

Country Blaufränkisch: Austria’s ABC

Rust architecture

Austria, with less than one per cent of global wine production is a hot-house of innovation and aspiration for its red wine producers, who account for about 35% of production, and increasing.  It is only in the last generation that any sort of serious red wine tradition has developed. And as was seen, for example, with the rapid evolution of Australian chardonnay from heavily worked and highly oaked to increasingly moderated expressions and unoaked styles, so Austria is in the midst of revolution with its reds, finding its best expressions, and all on a microscopic scale of vineyard holding and vineyard site which seems more reminiscent of Burgundy, also with family-owned, family-named wineries. Factor in the different indigenous grape varieties that bless Austria and a jigsaw puzzle of minutiae emerges to delight the connoisseur and confound the debutant.

Just a generation ago, Austrian wine was made to be drinkable straight away, and reds were vinified almost as white wines – low tannins, some residual sugar – a red coloured liquid without any of the features of red wine, often to meet market demand, especially from Germany, which has undergone a parallel red wine reform. Dr. Josef Schuller MW, managing director of the Austrian Wine Academy said: “the tradition of producing great red wines was not there, so what evolved in the 80s and 90s were deep, darkly coloured wines. Through the 80s, the trend was to stop producing reds with residual sugar, and to start using new wood. It was in the 80s that malolactic fermentation was a hot topic in Austria” Schuller added that the taste of new oak – ‘neuerl’ used to be considered a fault by the wine quality board, and that this changed only in the 80s. A mid 1980s visit by Burgenland producers to Bordeaux helped revolutionise the red wine landscape. Structure, earthy dryness, tannin, power, oak became the new bywords for quality, and the evolution of style and place continues.

There are fewer than 12,000 hectares (ha) of red grape vineyards in all of Austria. While there are smatterings of red vineyards throughout the country, even in the whiter than white renowned growing districts,  Burgenland is the heartland, homeland and hero region for red wine production with over 40% of red plantings. The vast Weinviertal, to the north of Vienna, also has big holdings, mainly of zweigelt and portugieser.

The four areas of Burgenland comprise the key red wine areas, and all are influenced to a greater or lesser extent by the continental Pannonian climate coming from the Hungarian steppes to the east, and by the large, shallow lake Neusidedl.

• Neusiedlersee – to the east of the lake
• Neusiedlersee-Hügelland – to the west of the lake
• Mittelburgenland – to the south of the lake
• Südburgenland – a little bit further to the south of the lake

Neusiedlersee

Neusiedlersee

Neusiedlersee is the only middle European steppe lake, and it is right at the western edge of the Pannonian plains. This large shallow lake, with an average depth of one metre, at about 100m above sea level, lake regulates climate in an important way. While up to 40% of the lake evaporates each year, creating humidity for botrytis to develop for sweet wines, a little further around the lake, black grapes come into their own. Zweigelt and blaufränkisch dominate, with some pinot noir, sankt laurent, cabernet sauvignon and merlot.

While the axis of Apetlon and Illmitz conjure images of rich, sensuous sweet wines, it is the trapezium of Gols, Mönchhof, Podersdorf, and Frauenkirchen on the north east perimeter of the lake that is the core of red production.

From the northernmost tip of the lake a distinct ridge runs from the north west to the south east immediately above Gols and Mönchhof, 30-50m above the plains. On the gentle slopes of this ridge are some of the best vineyard sites for reds on this side of the lake, such as Ungerberg, Altenberg, Salzberg and Gabarinza.  The ridge leads up to the Parndorf plateau, where, Axel Stiegelmar of Weingut Juris says: “It’s slightly cooler because of the wind, therefore earlier ripening varieties such as pinot noir and sankt laurent are better suited.” The slopes on the other hand are deemed best for later ripening blaufränkisch, and merlot.

This is the home of the Pannobile group of growers. One of the features of Austrian wine growing is the number of growers’ groups, where usually a dozen or so growers have banded together to promote their wines, or to set a standard for what they think is the best that they or their area can produce. So for a wine to carry the ‘Pannobile’ label, it must be a minimum 85% local varieties.  It is usually a blend, from different soils and different grape varieties. Gerhard Pittnauer, relative newcomer to the Pannobile group said: “North Burgenland changed to a red wine region about 20 years ago. It is a perception of minimum quality, with group dynamics and competition for quality, and shared costs of marketing.  It’s a good way to  make a region better known. Pannobile should express quality and typicity, also personality of the winemaker. It is a good climate for discussion.”

Helmuth Renner one of the founding members of the Pannobile group, typifies the small scale of production in Austria.  Renner is the first generation of the family who works only with wine.  Their business used to be mixed farming, as in much of this area. His grandfather, who was a miller, started wine production in 1950. And his father was one of the first to plant chardonnay, in the 60s. Renner said of the region “production is split 50:50 red and white, but in the next 10 to 20 years, it will be 70% red.” Their own production is 80% red, with nearly all his vineyards up and near the slopes.   

A new group – Select Gols – has recently established itself, focusing purely on indigenous grape varieties: zweigelt, pinot noir, sankt laurent and blaufränkisch.  Pinot noir has been in Austria for long enough to count as indigenous.

The growers’ groups reflect more general winemaking trends, especially whether to blend solely indigenous varieties, or to add the likes of cabernet sauvignon, merlot or syrah. The Pannobile, for example, can have up to 15% of international varieties in the blend. Debate on these style differences will continue: as elsewhere in the world, when it is blended with indigenous varieties, there comes a point at which cabernet sauvignon dominates a blend and indigenous flavours are lost.

On this subject Josef Umathum says: “I want to have Austrian fruit in the wine. In the 80s and 90s there were lots of blends, now the trend is back to single varietal, and back to Austrian varieties, back to blaufränkisch and sankt laurent and less to pinot noir.”

Gernot and Heike Heinrich, are master craftspeople of both varietal wine and single vineyard wines (blends), with that international twist. They own 10ha of the 14ha Gabarinza vineyard, as well as part of the Salzberg vineyard. Heinrich says he uses “the upper slope, with gravel and more humus for zweigelt, the middle slope, with sand, clay, no humus for blaufränkisch, and the lower slope again for zweigelt. Zweigelt needs more humus as it does not like to suffer, and blaufränkisch does better on heavier soil.”

Heinrich says: “zweigelt has darker fruit, more black cherry, softer tannin, fuller body, lacks the length, tannin, structure of a good blaufränkisch, therefore it´s good for blending.” Both his Salzberg and Gabarinza single vineyard wines are blended with merlot, which he says offers ripeness, power and ageing potential.

Neusiedlersee-Hügelland

Over on the west side of the lake, Rust is the centre for sweet wine production, with red wine producers located here too, and the Leitha Hills to the west of the lake provide vineyards for dry whites and reds.

Leitha Hills soils

The slate and limestone Leitha Hills, where a mix of red and white varieties are grown, range up to 300-325m above sea level, and provide a 35km border to the north west, protecting the vineyards of Neusiedlersee-Hügelland from cool northerly winds.  Vineyards are located on the gentle south and south east facing slopes, garnering warmth from the lake.

Hans Nehrer said “Blaufränkisch is late ripening so not found so high up the slopes. Zweigelt can go higher and pinot noir, because both are earlier ripening. The sun goes down pretty fast too, so we have good diurnal temperature variations which can be up to 20°C.”

Mittelburgenland

To the south of the lake and into the pre-Alps, this hilly, forested region is pitched as ‘blaufränkisch country’, and wine production, on 2000 ha, three quarters of it red, is concentrated in a west-east running series of slopes from Neckenmarkt and Horitschon in the west to Deutschkreutz in the east, right on the Hungarian border. Before 1921, the region’s main city was Sopron, which has remained Hungarian. Here soils are deep, heavy sands and loams, and some of the vines qualify for old status at up to 80 years.  

This broad valley range, 230 to 350m above sea level is surrounded on three sides by hills, the Odenburger Hills to the north, Rosalien Hills to the west, and Geschriebenstein Hills to the south, with the weather mostly coming from the east, unless rains and storms come up from the south. For this reason, cover crops are more likely to be found in this region.   Franz Weninger of Weingut Weninger said: “The climate is influenced by Neusiedlersee, but there is no direct contact. Warm air seeps up the valley from the east.”

Mittelburgenland

As befits its moniker, blaufränkisch is the main grape of the region, late-ripening, during the middle to end of October.  It’s cooler here, a bit higher, a bit wetter, harvest is maybe a week later, so the acidity of blaufränkisch is a bit fresher, and fruit characters trend to crisp red and sour cherry, with a peppery and sometimes herbaceous note; tannins can be more linear. But the degree of freshness and lift offered by a hint more acidity adds an element of elegance to the best wines that’s not always found closer to the lake. 

There is more chalk in the soil at Neckenmarkt, vines are on the higher slope, up to 350m, and the top site, qualitatively and altitudinally, Hochberg, has deep water storage capability in its loam soils. On the south side, Horitschon, 100m lower, has loam and loess soils.  Over to the east, Deutschkreutz has more gravel, with lighter, loess soils and stones which retain moisture and warmth, giving fuller wines with creamy texture and heavier tannin.

Anton Iby’s red wines come from the three main Horitschon vineyards: Hochäcker, Dürrau, Gfanger. He spoke of the extreme content of clay in the heavy soil, saying these are the oldest vineyards in Horitschon, because they could not grow white varieties in the heavy soil, and so had not been replanted. He said:  ”fruit and high ripe phenols are important. I learnt a lot in Priorat about fine ripe structure – most is fruit, next is tannin and the acid level should be present, but not dominant.”

Roland Velich, of Apetlon renown, is working with some aplomb in Mittelburgenland under the Moric label with blaufränkisch. He said: “we´re in a northern country, the aim is cool, elegant wines driven by finesse. It’s warmer than Burgundy. Blaufränkisch ripens a little before cabernet sauvignon. Sometimes we get the spicy expression of syrah but we can get the silky textures of pinot noir”

“Burgenland has a Pannonic situation; it is more connected with wines of Hungary. We aim for origin, typicity, the character of the grape varieties and not of oak; elegance of fruit, a mineral nerve which keeps freshness in the wine and makes it ageworthy. A classic European expression. should be drinkable, we don’t want to produce monsters.” They are using notably tiny amounts of new oak.

Südburgenland

About 100km south of Horitschon, and with 450 dispersed hectares, Südburgenland is the small southern settlement of red wine production in Austria. With a mild Pannonian climate, old blaufränkisch is grown in iron-rich soils, adding an element of spice and concentration in the best examples.  Production is focused on neighbouring villages of Eisenberg and Deutsch-Schützen. 

While there are about 500 producers in Südburgenland, many of them hobbyists, Krutzler is the most noted producer, especially with the Perwolff blend of blaufränkisch with 10% cabernet sauvignon.

The overt oak odyssey: over and out?

For sure there are plenty of tasty styles of wine made in big old wood and other inert vessels, but it is the top cuvées that make the noise for Austrian reds.  For these, the honeymoon period is probably not over yet for ostentatious, overt oak, but some of the best producers seem to be drawing back a little from its sometimes dominating vanilla and cream, toast and spice notes, letting the fruit shine through.  Moric may be one of the vanguard in this respect.

Franz Weninger says “you have to be really careful with wood.  Blaufränkisch is the great red variety of Austria, with great ageing potential. It is mainly the fruit-acid balance which holds the wine, not the tannin. Barrique was quite heavy in the last 10 years, most winemakers are now finding the right way of using wood.”