Events

Austria on the rise
September 2005

In the middle of September the Austrian Wine Marketing Board (AWMB) organized two large-scale tastings in St Petersburg and Moscow.

The Moscow event opened a presentation by Michael Thurner, AWMB director, and Avo Eiche who oversees the Russian market. They talked about the situation with Austrian winemaking, then held a comparative blind tasting.

Vineyards of the country count 48,000 hectares. They are worked by 32,000 winegrowers and 6,000 wineries. Nineteen regions which are situated in the east, annually produce 250 mln. l of wine with 30 percent of export. In the past 5 years the export value has dramatically risen from 20 mln euros in 2000 to 280 mln euros in 2004.

The climate is under the influence of continental in the north, warm pannonian in the east and Mediterranean in the south. The diversity of soils includes loess, primary rock, calcareous, schist, clay, sand, alluvial and volcanic soils. Ninety five percent of the harvest is gathered by hand.

Three flights in the blind tasting included dry white, dry red and sweet white wines. Each flight featured two Austrian and a famous French wine such as Louis Jadot Batard-Montrachet, Chateau Margaux and Chateau Yquem. The Austrian contenders showed impressive results.

The walk-around tasting offered wines from 40 producers. Among them were just authoritative names as Alzinger (Wachau), Brundlmayer, Hiedler, Loimer (Kamptal), Achs, Angerhof Tschida, Feiler-Artinger, Gsellmann & Gsellmann, Gernot Heinrich, Hillinger, Nitthaus, Opitz, Pittnauer, Pockl, Claus Preisinger (Burgenland), Sattlerhof, Skoff Walter (South Styria).

The guest could taste wines made from all major varieties grown in Austria, from Gruner Veltliner and Riesling to Blaufrankisch and Zweigelt. Different styles — dry white, dry red and sweet white — were present.

I was particularly impressed by stylishly packaged Leo Hillinger wines from Neusiedlersee in Burgenland and strikingly elegant wines by Hiedler in Kamptal. Leo Hillinger has creative approach not only for names and labels. His Hill 2 2003 (50% Sauvignon Blanc, 50% Chardonnay, 12 months in new oak) is a brilliant cuvee with marked depth and complexity. Gruner Veltliner Thal Novemberlese 2004 from Ludwig Hiedler strongly features stone fruit with fine nuances of herbs and spices.