Austrian wine; a game of two halves

Monday, 10 November, 2014
Dave March
Vienna seems to provide a half-way point for Austrian wine regions. The Wachau, to the West, is a hotch-potch of tiny villages clinging to the hillsides following the River Danube; and a mirror image of the Mosel in Germany. It is stunningly pretty. Medieval, Baroque and chock full of fairy tale castles, imposing monasteries and laden with history.

The whole area is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The river winds its way past one wine producer after another, most in family hands and usually composing an ornate and rustic family home with ancient cellars behind or under, dug into the gneiss, schist and loess over centuries. Vineyards rise through terraces, established by the Romans and expanded by Bavarian Monks around the 12th century. Streets are narrow, cobbled still and full of hikers and cyclists, who take priority here. Understanding the wine is straightforward; usually from higher slopes is Riesling, loving the pure rock and facing the sun. Lower down is Grüner Veltliner, delving deep into the sandy loess. Pinot Noir thrives in warmer sites, but the area is some 85% white wine. It is a small region, merely 1350ha of vines and with hundreds of producers, so much so that average vineyard ownership is a meagre 2.8ha each. An estate of 20ha is big here. The quality is exceptional, Grüner Veltliner was always good and sometimes outstanding; rich, complex and persistent, all spice, peach, herb and minerality.

Drive an hour South-East to Burgenland and Neusiedl am See to the vineyards around the lake, though, and everything changes. Roads are wider and busier, buildings are more blandly modern and the wine could come from another country. Suddenly, producer’s lists were full of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zweigelt, Sauvignon Blanc and even Shiraz. The land is flatter, more gently rolling hills and despite the presence of the 35km long lake the climate is not maritime – after all, the lake is only 2 metres deep at its worst – so quite continental, with harsh winters and short, hot summers. Nets covered some vines, not only to keep off birds, but to protect from strong winds; 2014 will not be easy here, either, too much rain. Joseph Umathum of Weingut Umathum tells me they have lost 70% of production this year and that many growers will likely go out of business. The soil has changed; now more chalk and gravel, and alluvial sand near the water and sometimes dark and very fertile, grapes sharing the land with cereal crops. Surprisingly, Zweigelt, loves sand and makes a rich and textured wine, with spice and sour cherries.. I smile when I hear that the region is ‘too hot for Shiraz’, I wonder if they have been in Paarl in summer. More sun exposure suits reds, and St Laurent is fresh, fruity and reliable, Cabernet less so and three years in ten, maybe, an ice wine from Traminer can be made; -8°C is not uncommon. Now we are in red wine country, and Grüner I found to be a shadow of its former self.

Several wines estates were the antithesis of the Wachau. Leo Hillinger (the brochure doesn’t add the moniker ‘Weingut’), is an example. Built in 2004 it is ultra-modern and very chic, ‘the unity of nature and technology’ says the brochure. And design. The bottles are like Leo himself, uber cool and a statement. The labels weren’t just different to the classic, sometimes romantically Germanic of the Wachau, at Hillinger they mostly didn’t exist. The top cuvee becomes a subtle etching ‘Hill 1’ (or correctly, ‘HI⅃⅃ 1‘, from ‘HI⅃⅃INGER‘, how cool is that!) and there are 23 brands to choose from. The tasting room was clean and sharp, like the logo t-shirted staff busily preparing with an events company an evening event for more than 120 people (no entering the family home as at Hirtzberger and Brundlmayer in the Wachau, or dealing with the family dog sniffing your crotch at Knoll ).

What the Burgenland does excel at, though, is dessert wine, particularly Beerenauslese and Trockenbeeerenauslese. The lake is key and botryitis happens most years. If you like sweet wine, Weingut Kracher should be on your bucket list. Gerhard and Yvonne are beyond welcoming and the love for their wines comes through. I can’t remember scoring six wines from one producer at 96+ /100 and eight at more than 94/100 before. Let me just say that I would be happy to be embalmed in the 2004 TBA Welschriesling, and how does he get a 2011 Muscat Ottonel at 280g/RS to be so light it is, as the advert says, like fairies dancing on your tongue!

Not only has vineyard area changed, from 1350ha in the Wachau, to some 10,000ha around Neusiedler See, but we seem to have changed century. Not so many cyclists here. The Burgenland was more 21st century, with clean, fruit driven and succesful international wines, exactly what you might find in most new world countries. If you want some unique reds and exceptional sweet wines head to Burgenland. If you want something less predictable, though, where a varietal can change its flavours every 50 metres and every decade of its winemaker, head to the Wachau and live on the wild side.