What Makes Austrian Wines So Exceptional?
Austria’s wines are now highly rated both by wine experts and wine lovers all around the world, consistently demonstrating their potential at international blind tastings. For us, it’s that breadth of style & variety but at such great quality – with family-run estates dominating the Austrian viticulture scene.
Freshness With Finesse
Austria’s unique geographic setting is the most important factor behind the exceptional quality of its wines. Although Austria shares the same latitude as Burgundy, it enjoys a much more central location within Europe. This means that it is in the transitional zone between the mild, damp Atlantic climate and the continental Pannonian climate, the latter bringing much greater variations in temperature. Summer and autumn are characterised by warm, sunny days and cool nights with northerly winds.
It's these unique climatic influences that result in the overarching characteristic of Austrian wines - an aromatic freshness, even when the grapes have reached full ripeness. This is really what makes them so special - that retention of freshness combined with concentrated flavour, body and elegance.
Something for Everyone
Despite being a small wine-growing nation, Austria offers such a wide range of different, interesting wines that nevertheless all display that dynamic contrast between ripeness and freshness.
In addition to climate, the diversity of Austria’s soils are a key driving factor behind this breadth of style. For example, the crystalline stone terraces and thick layers of loess in Niederösterreich, the calcareous soils in northern Burgenland and Südsteiermark, and the volcanic soils in the Kamptal and Vulkanland Steiermark.
To learn more about the different wine growing regions, we've put together a separate post.