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Austria is small, with barely 0.5% of its land covered in grapevines, but the country has contributed significant innovation and creativity to the wine world, from viticulture to stemware. In its more recent history, Austria’s industry was marked by the 1985 “antifreeze” scandal. Though the practice of sweetening wines with diethylene glycol, or DEG, hardly represented the majority of Austrian winemakers, all were implicated. Impressively, the industry banded together over the following years and developed stricter regulations and practices. Today, Austria has not only redeemed its reputation, but its wine industry is recognized for a proportionately high level of quality and rigorous standards. Pioneers from the last century have paved the way for today’s set of bright winemakers, many of whom are bringing excitement and originality to lesser-touted pockets throughout the country.
Geographically central, Austria has been a thoroughfare for many civilizations throughout history. The Hallstatt culture of the Late Bronze Age through the early Iron Age (1200–500 BCE), among the earliest of Celtic peoples, was first to significantly settle this area, landing just southeast of what is today Salzburg. Salt mines in the region allowed this group to prosper, producing over a ton of salt per day and supplying over half of Europe. Artifacts discovered here, such as bronze ornaments and sword handles made of African ivory, suggest significant wealth. As the tribe grew and became more sophisticated, a wine culture developed. Art and other remnants dated between 600 and 400 BCE signal more frequent wine consumption and a stratification of society, as the Hallstatt tribes were dominated by the fiercer La Tène Celts.
The first record of wild vines seems to be in the form of a funerary object that was buried at a gravesite around 1600 BCE in Lower Austria. However, the oldest evidence of cultivated vines dates back to approximately 900 BCE. Two small grapevine seeds were discovered in a storage pit covered with cereal grain in Stillfried, northeast of Vienna on the border of modern-day Hungary. Palaeobotanic analyses of plant fossils indicated these vines were imported, likely via horse trades, and then propagated through scions or layering. Between 900 and 600 BCE, there was clear growth in grapegrowing culture throughout what is now considered Lower Austria, Burgenland, and neighboring Slovakia and Hungary.
Romans were responsible for significantly expanding viticulture from 15 BCE though the fifth century CE. At the turn of the millennium, a surplus of Italian vines was planted in response to the Mount Vesuvius devastation in 79 CE. Emperor Domitian ordered half of the vines outside of Italy to be pulled and prohibited new vineyards. This interrupted Austria’s winemaking industry for nearly 200 years, until Emperor Probus lifted this edict, enabling viticulture to resume its expansion throughout the Roman Empire.
At the end of the fifth century, the Western Roman Empire began to fall. Austria entered a quiet period in 488 CE, after the Romans abandoned the vineyards. During the Age of Migration, the German, Hunnic, Bavarian, and Slavic tribes moved through this territory. Monasteries were built, and the Bavarians established their prominence (500–900 CE). In an effort to unite all Germanic peoples into one Christian kingdom, Charlemagne, King of the Franks, defeated Bavarian Duke Tassilo III in 788, eliminating Bavarian influence for the next 100 years. He then initiated a long series of battles, overtook nearly all of Bohemia, and finally defeated the Avars in order to capture the territory that is today Austria in 803. Charlemagne played a profound role in reinvigorating Austria’s wine industry. His capitulare de villis vel curtis imperii, among the first of Europe’s official wine law documents, spelled out requirements for better grapegrowing and winemaking techniques. Grape selection was taken more seriously. Varieties were considered in two categories: the more superior Frankish varieties, and those of lower quality, known as Heunisch, a derogatory term directed toward the Huns.
Control returned to the Bavarians in 976 under the House of the Babenbergs, which expanded the territory as well as its influence and power over the next centuries. The Badenbergs elevated themselves to the status of duchy by the middle of the 12th century. During this time, many monasteries populated Krems, Vienna, Styria, and Burgenland. Krems, then the largest town in Wachau, was home to 16 monasteries by the end of the 12th century. The Cistercians had a tremendous impact on wine quality, bringing grapegrowing and winemaking knowledge from Burgundy.
Shortly after the death of the last ruling Babenberg male, Count Rudolf IV of the House of Habsburg was crowned the Roman-German King and relocated to Vienna, where the Habsburg monarchy would govern until the end of World War I. The Habsburgs’ skillful business and marital tactics allowed for the acquisition of many territories, including Burgundy in 1477, when Mary of Valois, Duchess of Burgundy, married Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, strengthening ties to this important wine region.
Wine became increasingly central to Austrian culture throughout the Late Middle Ages. In addition to its crucial sacramental role, it was consumed as an alternative to unclean water. Wine was nearly always diluted, and spices and honey were sometimes added for sweetness. More controls were set to limit and even prohibit foreign wine imports in the 13th century, and wine became a key export product. In 1340, a law passed that banned all Hungarian wine from entering the country, and by the 16th century, over 150,000 hectares of vines covered the land. In Burgenland, the free city of Rust was also gaining popularity among royals both near and afar for its distinctive Ruster Ausbruch, a sweet botrytized dessert wine that was made in a style similar to that of Tokaj.
By the early modern period, fortunes began to turn for Austria’s wine industry. From 1587 onward, a series of unfavorable climate conditions and poor harvests resulted in less wine. Export bans were legally enforced in an effort to secure Austria’s domestic product, and as a result, trade markets collapsed. Wine prices began to rise, not only in response to factors of supply and demand but also as a result of higher taxes. A tax particular to wine, beer, and mead, introduced as the ungeld in 1359 under Duke Rudolf IV, ramped up considerably around 1556 and then again in 1568 to pay preparatory military debts. High taxes were noted as a major factor for the decline of viticulture in the 17th century, as the majority of the population turned to more economical choices like beer. Rising taxes would persist through the 19th century. In 1829, the General Consumption Tax rose to 42.2% on all wine and beer products, and in 1883, the land tax was set at 22.7% of gross yields for vineyards, only to be lowered after the devastation of phylloxera.
The Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) left villages in ruins. Despite bans to expand vines, grapegrowers worked hard to rebuild and cultivate new vineyards. At the end of the 17th century, 90% of vineyards were in the hands of peasants. They often rotated grain with grapes, which yielded about the same price at this time when factoring in labor costs. The Weinviertel was the site of a great deal of development during this period, with Grüner Veltliner beginning to demonstrate success. By 1830, the region was home to 67% of the country’s vineyards.
The 18th century finally brought some hope, as both the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution ushered in new ways of thinking along with more mechanized techniques, which would transform the bottom line for growers. Archduke Johann of Austria was an important figure for agriculture in this era, particularly for Styria, which had fallen behind the advances of its neighbors in Lower Austria and Burgenland. He took varietal and site selection seriously, leading several experiments to determine what would deliver the best quality, with Sauvignon Blanc among his findings. Agricultural societies were popping up throughout the region, modernizing farming and increasing productivity.
As years passed and the Industrial Revolution advanced, the growing wine industry’s central concern became getting more wine in less time with lower costs. Greater research and experimentation took place, and more mechanized equipment was introduced. The Klosterneuburg monastery established a wine college in 1860 that continues to serve as a principal enology school today.
The final chapter for the Habsburgs involved their union with Hungary through the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. The Hapsburgs and Hungarians shared military and conducted foreign affairs as one, but they operated separate local governments. Together, they were among the most powerful forces in Europe at the time. Vineyards overlapped, which would become a matter to settle upon the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I.
Upon the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, Austria-Hungary moved on the Serbians in a battle that would initiate the Great War. Four years and nearly 40 million casualties later, the Habsburg monarchy was defeated, and the Republic of German-Austria was established on November 12, 1918. Vineyards were hardly a focus when drawing the new borders. South Tyrol was annexed to Italy as Alto Adige; 30,000 hectares within Styria fell to the SHS-State (the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes); and Lower Austria lost some of its northern territory to Czechoslovakia. What Austria did inherit were the great vineyards of Burgenland, two nurseries (with 89 varieties), and Rust, which was home to a viticultural school and growing vineyard area. Yet perhaps more significant than physical boundaries, the ideological Iron Curtain was gaining momentum.
On March 12, 1938, German soldiers annexed Austria for the Third Reich. Austria’s wine industry was a source of much conflict during this time. An effort to Aryanise was underway. Jews were required to register assets, and vineyards were extorted for abominably depressed prices, from which the state officials and non-Jewish farmers benefited.
The Third Reich had an idealized image of the German farm: not too small as to be unsustainable, but not too large as to counter its biased image of Jewish business. The Reich Hereditary Farm Act of 1938 mandated a vineyard size of 7.5 to 125 hectares—nearly impossible for most farmers, as it was common to hold only a few hectares or less. This led to unprecedented restructuring, mergers, and the influx of cooperatives, which grew to 48 by 1938 (3,438 members) and 71 by 1943 (8,958 members).
This was perfect for the National Socialists (Nazis), who wanted to control the wine sector’s production and the race of its participants. Scholar Ernst Langthaller points out that the Reichsnährstand, which oversaw all agricultural production and distribution, attempted to justify this, explaining, “Some provisions may mean that personal rights of disposal are restricted. However, viewed from the higher vantage point of the national economy, these are just as necessary as promoting the well-being of the individual.” The Third Reich also shifted the focus at the well-reputed Klosterneuburg by establishing the Higher School and Experimentation Station of Viticulture and Fruit Production on its grounds. The new institution brought in students mainly from abroad to learn the “correct” way of growing, with limited approved varieties (15 white and 4 red). Efficiency was considered paramount, and the more industrial farming techniques that were emphasized gave larger cooperative wineries an advantage over smaller farmers who had trouble keeping up with the material and labor required for these new approaches. Dr. Franz Zweigelt, for all that he would contribute to Austria’s wine industry, remains a controversial figure for his questionable alliance with the Nazis during their regime, which resulted in trial for treason after the war.
The end of World War II cracked open new opportunities for Austrian farmers. Lenz Moser, born into a family of winemakers, would come to play a primary role in the improvement of Austrian viticulture, particularly for his introduction of high-stake training. Moser believed that it wasn’t really until the Reich had come to an end that winegrowing in Austria experienced a revolution. Throughout the 1920s, he identified the need for vineyards to adapt to the mechanizations available, not the other way around. He envisioned wider rows at three to four meters apart, lower density planting, and higher training on wires to replace low-grounded stake training. He established his first experimental vineyard in 1924, implementing this hochkultur, or “high culture,” training method with vines on wires at 1.25 meters.
The coldest winters in over a century took place in 1928 and 1929. Of the 35 grape varieties Moser had planted, 20 froze, with exceptions including Welschriesling, Riesling, and Grüner Veltliner. Over the years, it would be Grüner Veltliner and Zweigelt that Moser would encourage most for hochkultur training, and today, these are the most planted white and red varieties. Though it took time for growers to convert to hochkultur training, it became the norm in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1959, 77% of vineyards were still on the old stake system, but by 1980, this had dropped to under 1%. As hectarage under vine expanded from 42,000 in 1970 to over 56,000 by 1983, all vineyards were established with Moser’s high training. Though this is his greatest legacy, Moser was also fascinated by vineyard botany and established some of the first studies in cover crop recommendations in the 1950s.
Following World War II, the use of fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides had been growing. Machines were doing much of the work in the vineyards, in part due to Moser’s vine training methods. Production boomed. Meanwhile, Germans vacationed in Burgenland and raved about the region’s sweet Prädikat wines. Demand for this style soared through the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1970, a new tax policy no longer mandated cellar inspections, and counterfeit operation developed unchecked. A study commission by the local Institute for Agricultural Economics vastly underestimated growth in consumption, encouraging overproduction and causing grape prices to plummet. Demand for sweet wine, however, wasn’t impacted. Rather, it increased dramatically, and as pressure to produce more for export grew, quality was compromised. From 1970 to 1983, vineyard area climbed from 43,000 to 56,000 hectares. A string of poor vintages in the late 1970s and early 1980s added anxiety to the equation, as winemakers sought to correct underripe, thin wines with something that could go undetected and also contribute body and texture to their wines. They identified diethylene glycol, or DEG, which easily mixes with liquids like alcohol and water and is a component in brake fluid, lubricants, skin care products, and, most famously, antifreeze. DEG has a sweet taste, adding to and obscuring sugar additions, and was hard to detect—mainly because no one thought to test for it.
On January 28, 1985, investigators confirmed the presence of DEG in Austrian wines. The news broke on April 23, 1985, and export markets dried up almost immediately. This was particularly significant for Germans, who had previously accounted for nearly 90% of Burgenland’s exports.
The supposed ringleader chemist, Otto Nadrasky, admitted that this practice began in 1978. He and chemists at other laboratories had determined the amount of DEG that could be added at safe levels—and it is true that no one was harmed, let alone killed, by consuming these beverages. A lethal dose of DEG is thought be about 40 grams per liter, and most wines saw only a fraction of a gram to a few grams per liter. Winemakers sought, unsuccessfully, to justify their methods by explaining that a person would almost certainly die of alcohol poisoning before DEG.
Though the scandal involved sweet wine and primarily incriminated just a few large producers, all of Austria suffered, and it would take 15 years for its exports to rebound. Despite the adverse economic implications that followed, this scandal provided the industry with an opportunity for change. Winemakers quickly set out to improve their image by establishing some of the strictest regulations in Europe through the Austrian Wine Act of 1986. New requirements included cellar inspections, detailed recordings of quantities from vineyard to bottle, yield restrictions for higher-quality fruit, and the establishment of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board (AWMB). Meanwhile, a marketing effort worked to restore the nation’s reputation. Winemakers, including key players Alois Kracher and Willi Opitz, tirelessly showed their wines during this time to convince consumers of their quality.
Before Austria could join the EU, a number of reforms needed to take place. In the early 1990s, the Ministry of Agriculture hired an outside business consultancy to evaluate Austria’s wine industry and identify areas for improvement. A thorough assessment pointed to structural shortcomings, inadequate marketing, and financial concerns around tax structure and overall industry resources. Austria responded with continued efforts from a recently established wine consultancy network, outlets for grape surplus, and abolishing taxes for non-sparkling wine.
Joining the EU had many benefits for Austria’s wine industry. Integration was relatively smooth, as Austria’s wine law was not too dissimilar from that of the EU. Exports were simplified, monetary assistance became available for bulk shipping outside the country, programs were established to improve grapegrowing and winemaking methods, and financial incentives encouraged organic viticulture. Today, the central government and local federal states help pay insurance premiums for unseen vineyard challenges.
Austria produced 2.75 million hectoliters of wine in 2018, a mere 1% of global production, placing it 17th in the world for overall volume. Still, over 90% of wine in 2018 was classified as Qualitätswein or Prädikatswein, reflecting Austria’s ongoing focus on quality. In 2015, vines covered over 45,000 hectares of land, a 22% decrease since 1987, when there was an extreme surplus. White grapes reign supreme, with over 67% of the plantings, despite a slight surge of reds in the early 2000s. In 1987, there were 45,380 growers, averaging 1.28 hectares per producer, which has dropped to about 14,111 growers today, with about 3.22 hectares per grower. Though this indicates growth in the larger wineries and consolidation, Austria still boasts many small, boutique wineries.
Austrian wine holds 90% of the domestic market share, up 6% since 2003. The average bottle price is €5.21, increased from €4.28 in 2012. In Austria, over half of the local wine is sold on-premise and at trade events, while 39% is consumed at home. Supermarkets have become important partners for the industry, and less wine is being purchased directly from wineries. The remaining Austrian wine consumed within the country is attributed to tourists.
Though small compared to other wine regions, Austria enjoys a successful and growing export market. Its wines are exported to 102 countries, nearly double the number served in 2009, in part thanks to the AWMB’s strategy to create more resilience to fluctuations from individual markets. In 2019, Austrian winemakers exported a record-breaking 640,000 hectoliters of wine (about 7.1 million cases), a huge comeback after losing four-fifths of their export market after the 1985 scandal. Germans still claim about half of this, but considerable growth comes from the United States, in part due to importers like Terry Theise and Circo Vino, who have championed these wines. In 2000, about 145,000 hectoliters were bottled for export; 214,000 hectoliters went out in bulk. By 2018, this situation dramatically reversed: 460,000 hectoliters were bottled, and the remaining 60,000 hectoliters were bulk. These figures demonstrate both growth in exports and a move away from bulk production.
Austria is a landlocked country nestled in the heart of south-central Europe—an ideal situation for trade throughout history. It shares borders with seven other countries: Switzerland (and Lichtenstein) on its western edge, the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia to the northeast, Hungary to the east, and Slovenia to the south. Germany and Italy, to its north and south, respectively, pinch Austria where it narrows most. At its widest, the country measures only 275 kilometers from north to south; most of Austria fits between the 47th and 48th parallels.
Austria contains nine federal states. Together, Lower Austria (Niederösterreich in German), Burgenland, and Vienna (Wein) compose one large winemaking region known as Weinland. A second region, Steierland, includes the federal state of Styria (Steiermark). Weinland and Steierland collectively contain all but 1 of Austria’s 18 winemaking regions. The final growing area is Bergland, which comprises vineyards found in the five remaining federal states: Carinthia (Kärnten), Upper Austria (Oberösterreich), Tyrol (Tirol), Vorarlberg, and Salzburg. While these states don’t have any DACs, they have a long winemaking tradition and are beginning to experience a kind of renaissance.
Mountains dominate nearly two-thirds of Austria’s landscape. Extending from the west, the Alps continue eastward and fade into the Pannonian Plain. Here, they descend into eastern Austria to surface again as the Carpathian Mountain Range, hugging Hungary’s eastern border and forming a crescent shape through Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, and finally Romania. The northern massif hills of the Bohemian Forest form a natural border with the Czech Republic and contain the oldest rock formations in Austria, dating back over 500 million years. Together, these geological features are responsible for some of the most diverse soils in all of Central Europe. Granite and sedimentary silty windblown loess characterize the soils of Lower Austria that are most often discussed, but millennia of tectonic and glacial activity produced a complex range of types and sizes, including schistose paragneiss, amphibolite, and granulite soils. Many of Burgenland’s soils are informed by Danubian deposits of calcareous sandy gravels. There are also pockets of silty loam and non-calcareous clays throughout Central Burgenland, while Leithaberg is home to a unique limestone composed of sea fossils as well as schist and gneiss. The Styria Basin forms the patchwork of soils in the south, influenced by several distinct mountain ranges. It includes silt, marl, sand, gravel, sandstone, conglomerates, gneiss, amphibolite, and limestone, with a small amount of volcanic basalts.
Though Austria borders no oceans, water plays an important role. The Danube is the second longest river in Europe, running for nearly 3,000 kilometers. Beginning at the confluence of the Brigach and Breg Rivers in Germany’s Black Forest, it moves southeast through 10 countries, including the upper northeast quarter of Austria, eventually draining into the Black Sea. The Danube has been economically important for Austria as a key European trade route; it is also a crucial moderating influence in an otherwise severely continental climate. Its impact is reflected in comparison of the lush, concentrated wines of the eastern Wachau, where the Danube begins flowing east through the Lower Austrian wine regions, to the acidic, laser-focused, and chiseled wines from Spitz in western Wachau. Lake Constance sits on the German-Swiss border in the west, and Lake Neusiedlersee borders Hungary in the east. The latter is key to Burgenland’s sweet dessert wines. A shallow, marsh-like lake, Neusiedlersee and several dozen surrounding small lakes raise the overall humidity of Burgenland, allowing grape bunches to achieve noble botrytis during the warm, misty autumn mornings.
Austria’s winegrowing regions generally experience a continental climate, with warm-to-hot summers and cold winters. On average, winters tend to get as cold as –10 to –12 degrees Celsius (10 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit), with summers as warm as 32 to 34 degrees Celsius (89 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit). Supporting the country’s focus on white grapes, most of the grapegrowing regions experience over 2,000 hours of sunshine; the Danubian region in Lower Austria has just over 1,800 on average.
Lower Austria, the Pannonian Plain, and Styria, however, don’t neatly fit into these generalizations, as they are further impacted by various mesoclimates and microclimates. In addition to the Danube River’s warming effect on its nearby wine regions, Lower Austria experiences considerable shifts in temperature during the growing season. This is particularly true near harvest, when warm winds come in from the Pannonian Plain in the east across Wagram, settling into the valleys by day, followed by cooler winds from the northern forests at night. These shifts yield fresh yet opulent wine styles. Burgenland is significantly affected by the warm Pannonian climate. The growing season can get quite hot, allowing for robust red wines. Uniquely, Styria has a Mediterranean influence from the Adriatic in the south, causing longer, warmer days than experienced by its northern counterparts. The nights, though, feel more alpine and cool in the steeply planted vineyards.
Lower Austria is the driest region, with roughly 450 to 550 millimeters of rainfall per year. Irrigation is necessary most years to consistently maintain high quality. Further east, in Vienna, the average is closer to 700 millimeters annually, while Burgenland has about 600 millimeters and Styria nearly 900. Bergland, which comprises the western regions of the Alps, experiences an Atlantic influence, with twice as much rain as in Lower Austria. Though production is minuscule, a handful of Bergland’s regions have warm pockets that allow for grapegrowing.
Guidelines for quality winemaking in Austria stretch as far back as the Romans, but it was not until 1907 that formalized wine law was put into place, largely to prevent the creation of artificial wine in the period following the devastation of phylloxera. Other laws were established in the 20th century, such as one in 1936 under the First Republic forbidding new vineyards and hybrid vines. But it wasn’t until 1985, when the DEG scandal produced a watershed moment for the Austrian winemaking industry, that more stringent measures were codified.
Until this point, Austrians had adopted a German classification based largely on must levels. This is still seen today, particularly with the Prädikatswein classification from Spätlese to Trockenbeerenauslese, where the Klosterneuburg Must Weight Scale (KMW) is a measurement of 1 gram of sugar per 100 grams of grape must (1 degree KMW is approximately 5 degrees Öechsle). However, in response to the scandal and a global shift in preference toward drier styles, regions were beginning to focus more on dry white and red wines that valued origin over sweetness levels. Regional associations started to form and worked closely with the newly establish AWMB to improve public image. Accession into the EU in 1995 ensured EU wine law adoption as a starting point, but the goal was a quality-focused, appellation-based system unique to Austria. By 2001, an amendment was proposed to establish regionally typical wines under a system called Districtus Austriae Controllatus (DAC) that was much like the French Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system. It was approved in 2002, with Weinviertel named the first DAC region in 2003. Austria has 15 DACs throughout Weinland, and the remaining two regions of Weinland aspire to DAC recognition.
Austrian wine law identifies three levels of quality: Wein, Landwein, and Qualitätswein. In 2018, Wein and Landwein only accounted for about 6.5% of Austria’s overall production. In line with EU regulations, Wein is without a geographical indication, replacing the former use of Tafelwein. Wein is divided into two categories: Wein, which can include grapes from anywhere in the EU, and Österreich (the German name for Austria, also labeled as österreichischer Wein), which must be sourced from Austria only. Wein may state vintage and variety if the wine adheres to national yield levels and includes grapes that are not associated with a DAC but do fall into the greater permissible Qualitätswein varieties.
Landwein is equivalent to the EU’s Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). These wines must be produced from grape varieties that are approved for Qualitätswein, and 100% of the grapes must come solely from one of the three winegrowing areas: Weinland, Steierland, or Bergland. These wines must exhibit traits that are representative of the area.
Qualitätswein, which makes up 84% of production, corresponds with the EU’s Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). To qualify, grapes must be harvested in a single winegrowing region and produced in a facility within or bordering that region. There are 40 approved varieties, and wines must show typicity of region, meet the minimum must weight requirement of 15 degrees KMW, adhere to maximum yields of 65.7 hectoliters per hectare, and have a minimum 9% ABV (5% for Prädikatswein). Qualitätswein must be inspected and approved by a government tasting official and given a Federal Inspection Number. This number, along with the banderole capsule, verifies strict measures of quality.
There are four overarching designations that can be labeled as Qualitätswein: Kabinett, DAC wines, Prädikatswein (which has its own style categories), and Austrian Sekt g.U. All build upon the basic rules laid out for Qualitätswein. For example, a Kabinett wine can be labeled as such if it has not been chaptalized, achieves a must weight of 17 degrees KMW or above, has a potential alcohol maximum of 13%, and unfermented sugars do not exceed nine grams per liter of residual sugar. DACs must adhere to the rules established by the protected region, which typically reflect stricter guidelines for viticulture, accepted grapes, winemaking, and labels.
The DAC system was meant to simplify the consumer’s understanding of a region by limiting grapes and styles to those that epitomize the location and reinforce its character. The two most significant styles are klassik and reserve. The former is an unofficial term that refers to dry, unchaptalized, medium-bodied styles that are often crisp, fruity, unoaked, and moderate in alcohol. Conversely, reserve is an official term given to fuller styles; it requires higher must weight and minimum alcohol (13%). Reserve wines often exhibit more extract on the palate and frequently experience oak aging.
Prädikatswein is a category of Qualitätswein defined by must weight at harvest and has the most overlap with its German heritage. Final sweetness can only be achieved through an interrupted fermentation; chaptalization and the addition of unfermented grape must are forbidden. A certificate, or mostwägerbescheiningung, is required to verify the grapes’ quality. For Spätlese and Auslese, wines cannot be submitted to the tasting commission until January 1 following harvest. For all other styles (Beerenauslese, Eiswein, Strohwein/Schilfwein, and Trockenbeerenauslese), wines can be submitted beginning April 1 after harvest.
Austrian sparkling wine can be traced back to 1842, when Robert Alwin Schlumberger came to Vienna after working as Ruinart’s cellar master and head of production. His expertise at one of the finest Champagne houses of the era gave him confidence in Austria’s potential—and particularly in Vöslau, just south of Vienna. In chalky white soils that reminded him of France, he began to plant vines in 1844. By 1859, the first Austrian sparkling wine brand was born. Called Goldeck, it was named after the Goldeggen Vineyard and remains one of the largest sparkling wine brands in Austria, today owned by the Schlumberger Wine and Sekt Company. Other formative figures behind the rise of sparkling wine production in Austria were Johann Kattus, who launched the Hochriegel brand in 1890, and Karl Inführ, who introduced the Charmat method in 1949.
Only a handful of large companies were permitted to manufacture base wines and set the price for sparkling wine. By 1976, the argument over estate production of sparkling wine became a great debate, headed largely by grower and vintner Gerald Malat in Krems, who felt wineries should be allowed to use their own grapes for base wine . Permission was granted, and sparkling wine producers rose in number. Use of the term hauersekt, meaning “grower’s sparkling wine,” on the label indicates that a wine was made with fruit that was estate grown and produced.
In 2013, the Austrian Sekt Committee formed to enhance the image of Sekt and work for more organization to differentiate high-quality sparkling. It proposed a plan that, with the assistance of other groups such as the Austrian Wine Marketing Board, was approved by the National Committee in 2015 and made law in 2016. Under this law, Austrian Sekt can apply for PDO g.U. designation. PDO Sekt is labeled with an official seal that reads Geschützter Ursprung, geprüfte Qualität, meaning “Protected origin, proven quality.”
For PDO Sekt, there are three levels of quality: Klassik, Reserve, and Grosse Reserve. All PDO wines must be made from the 40 permitted varieties for Qualitätswein and pass a sensory panel test that indicates they are free of defect. Klassik wines are derived from grapes that come from one federal state but can be vinified anywhere in Austria. Grapes for Reserve wines must be grown and pressed in a single Austrian federal state (this is also the most specificity of origin allowed on the label—no single vineyard or commune can be listed). Grosse Reserve grapes must be harvested and pressed within one municipality (if registered, a single vineyard is permitted on the label); grape must, however, can be transported to a production facility elsewhere in Austria.
Sparkling wine represents about 5% of Austria’s production. Grüner Veltliner and Welschriesling are the preferred varieties, but Riesling, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir are also utilized. Nearly 75% of the fruit is grown in Lower Austria, particularly the northern part of the Weinviertel, and Vienna, with just under 20% from Burgenland. Over half of production takes place in Vienna. Though many winemakers have small sparkling wine projects, about 25 wineries form the core of this industry. Major producers include Hugl Weine, Weingut Steininger, Weingut Bründlmayer, Weingut Schloss Gobelsburg, and Weingut Stift Klosterneuburg (the abbey’s estate production). Domestic Sekt generates €55 million in value for Austria, employing 1,300 workers, sustaining 114 businesses, and sourcing grapes from 3,000 vintners.