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.

Lower Austria is the country’s biggest and most diverse group of wine regions, clustered in the north-east corner of the country, and accounting for over 60% of the country’s vineyard area.  It is most important for white grape varieties such as grüner veltliner and riesling, the best of which rival the top, longest-lived, most highly respected dry white wines in the world.

Wachau, Kremstal and Kamptal

Terraced vineyards

The trinity of Wachau, Kremstal and Kamptal, at the western extremity of vine cultivation in Austria, close to the banks of the river Danube, and just one hour west of Vienna, is the origin for most of these globally celebrated wines, the pinnacle of which are dry, rich, concentrated and tautly defined wines of precision and place.

These three sub-regions comprise 7,500 ha between them, just 15% of Austria’s vineyard plantings.

The climate here is dry, and continental, with long cool autumns. Conditions uniquely combine to create consummate wine-growing potential. Warm winds blow from the Pannonian plain in the east. Some of these are funnelled up the river Danube to the eastern reaches of the Wachau, their influence waning westwards as they lose pace. Virtually all the vineyards in these areas are on the northern bank of the Danube, to catch maximum sunlight exposure during the growing season, and in places, especially in the Wachau, vineyards are precipitous and terraced, thanks to the work of the church in previous times, evidence of the centuries-long history of vine cultivation in Austria. The terraces add further motes of warmth by re-radiating the sun’s heat.

The Pannonian influence is strongest up to the eastern parts of Wachau, at Durnstein, where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned.  Just beyond the town, the Danube turns sharply southward, blocking the warm Pannonian air.  It gets progressively cooler going west. As a result, wines from eastern Wachau can be more opulent, a little richer and more powerful than those to the west. At the western end, in Spitz, the meso-climate is wetter and cooler, almost 3°C cooler than at Loiben in the east of the region, and the wines more finely structured and minerally, with an almost exotic note. 

Cool afternoon mountain winds come down from the Waldviertal, north of the region which enables grapes to retain natural acidity while allowing full, spicy, ripeness to be achieved. Aspect and precise location have a discernible influence on the wines.

Most Wachau producers are part of the Vinea Wachau group, the roots of which date to a 13^th century land classification. The aim of the group is to safeguard the origin and improve the quality of their wines, which are all dry and are categorised according to style:

• steinfeder is the lightest in weight and alcohol (11%),
• federspiel of middling weight and
• smaragd the richest, most full-bodied style and with alcohol about 13%. Smaragd wines are named after the green lizards which come out to bask in the sunshine on the vineyard terraces.

It is usually the full-bodied smaragd style where the pinnacle of quality and longevity is found.  Rudi Pichler, of his eponymous estate said “to show terroir, you need a single vineyard. Single vineyards are normally destined for smaragd quality, therefore, the best quality is usually the smaragd style”. Hirtzberger’s Singerriedel Riesling Smaragd with density, freshness, intensity and concentration is surely one of the most sought-after wines in the entire valley.

The exemplary co-operative, Domäne Wachau, makes some excellent quality and good value riesling and grüner veltliner from single vineyard sites, and other producers to splash out on for a revelatory Wachau experience include Leo Alzinger, Emmerich Knoll, FX Pichler and Prager.

Picturesque slopes

Sandwiched between the Wachau and Kamptal, is Kremstal, with vineyards on either side of Danube tributary, the river Krems. Vineyards here are located on the world’s third largest loess terrace which extends about six kilometres from Krems to Gedersdorf (the largest is in China, and the second largest is the famed Kaiserstuhl vineyard in Germany).  Riesling gives way to grüner veltliner as the dominant variety here.

Grüner veltliner grapes ripen fairly late, so it prefers cool nights to achieve perfect acid balance with alcohol and aromatic expression. It is another variety that expresses its terroir or site, and is at its best on primary rock with fertile top soil of either loess or shale origin, so this region provides some good examples. It has a spicy, smoky character with distinctive white pepper notes. Its fruit character ranges from citrus to rich, peachy and apricot flavours. Martin Nigl of his eponymous winery explained the diversity of styles with this grape variety: “there are three styles of grüner veltliner: a fresh, young style, the ‘golden middle’ with enough freshness and enough concentration so it can be an aperitif or go with a meal, and the concentrated style” which is a real food wine.   

Centred on the town of Langenlois, a little further east from Kremstal, lies Kamptal, where the reputation for grüner veltliner is second to none. This is home to the iconic Willi Bründlmayer estate, and to numerous other top producers such as Schloss Gobelsburg, Hiedler and Hirsch.

The climate is a little drier, and the wines a little broader and richer than the Wachau. During the day, warm air from the southern plain of the Danube flows up the valley of the river Kamp while by night, a cool breeze from the Waldviertel blows over the vineyards and terraces down the valley. Geology remains important as a quality driver. Micky Moosbrugger, of Schloss Gobelsburg explained: “the most important soils are 280 million years old – brown, amphibolites, mica, schist. This is the basement of the whole Danube area through the Wachau, Krems and Kamptal areas. In Kamptal, there is a geological island at Gobelsburg, where alpine glacial deposits formed a croupe of big gravels, and another geological island at Heiligenstein, of Permian rock, sandstone and gneiss.”  The Heiligenstein has a reputation of almost mythical proportion.  An early mention in 1280 suggests it was a mountain on which the sun ‘burns like hell’ (or Hellenstein).

Langenlois is something of vinous mecca, and the Loisium opened in 2003 amid the vineyards, a futuristically shiny block of a wine visitor’s centre.

Wienviertal

Weinviertal turbines on the horizon

Staying north of the Danube, the Wienviertal borders the Czech Republic and Slovakia.  With 16,000 ha, it is Austria’s most extensive vineyard region – a large expanse of rolling countryside with mixed agriculture interspersed with vineyards. Elegant wind farms stand above wheat and sunflower fields.

The region is making a name for itself by being the first to adopt a system of origin called DAC (Districtus Austria Controllatus). The philosophy of this voluntary system is to create a link between a variety and a region, where the chosen variety shows a typical style of wine for the region. So DAC Wienviertal is for grüner veltliner, which covers 50% of the region’s vineyard plantings.  Many other grape varieties are grown but the idea is to focus on one variety for the DAC. Thus it offers consumers a consistent style of wine which is representative of the region.  In this case DAC grüner veltliner should be fruity, spicy, peppery and dry with no wood influence and a minimum of 12% alcohol. 

Both inside and outside of the DAC system, the big names to look out for include Graf Hardegg, Pfaffl, Weinrieder and Zull.

Thermenregion and Carnuntum

South of the river and heading south of Vienna are Thermenregion and Carnuntum.  Carnuntum’s leading light is Markowitsch with both his reds and whites, and whilst the region grows mostly white wines from grüner veltliner, weissburgunder (pinot blanc) and chardonnay, it is the reds that are worth watching.

Thermenregion, region of spas, is making a niche for itself with rotgipfler and zierfandler. These are two elusive white grape varieties that are worth searching out, though with just 100 ha of each planted, it may be something of a labour of love. Around the spa town of Baden there’s a long south east facing slope of gentle gradient, which brings to mind the Côte d’Or, running towards the historic village of Gumpoldskirchen, and it is in this area that the grape varieties thrive.

Rotgipfler is not red (’rot’), but takes its name from its red-tipped shoots. It likes warm hillside locations like those around Gumpoldskirchen.  Both it and zierfandler can be made from dry to fully sweet, and in the dry styles, it is rotgipfler that has the edge in terms of palate weight with spicy and tropical fruit, zierfandler being a little lighter, perhaps with a degree more elegance, and some  nutty character.  

Traisental, Donauland, Vienna

These are the less well-known vineyard areas of Lower Austria, and mostly they hug the south bank of the river.  Grüner veltliner is the predominant variety in Traisental.  Donauland is cultivating its own niche. Plentiful loess soils grow mostly grüner veltliner, riesling and pinot blanc and Bernhard Ott produces some good examples. Much of the wine from Vienna vineyards goes to supply the popular Heurige bars in the city.

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.”