Welcome to the Austrian Wine Adventure Tour!
Ever wondered what the terms "peppery fruit" and "mineral finish" meant when describing a typical Grüner Veltliner? Have all those foreign words on Austrian labels got you confused? And would you like to be able to pronounce them without tripping on your tongue? Need a cure for the ABC-Syndrome?Have no fear; help is on the way. The Austrian Wine Adventure Tour is dedicated to just those needs and more.
Aperitif: New Wines in the Old World
Before we get started on our adventure tour, lets get an overview of the current Austrian wine industry. If you take a look at the history of Austrian wine, you'll see that they've been making and drinking our very favorite beverage here for over 2½ millennia.
Recent years have brought exciting changes in the Austrian wine industry. The small artisan structure of Austria's wine producers was once seen as a market handicap, but is now perceived as one of its greatest strengths. Small family operated wineries, each with a very individual philosophy and a mother's fussy attention to detail, are crafting wines of stunning character and high quality. Successful makers of some of the world's most sought-after Rieslings and noble sweet wines have sent their daughters and sons abroad to learn in Bordeaux, Burgundy, California, Italy and Australia. A new generation of young winemakers have come home with new, modern techniques, but also the realization that Austria has something very unique to offer with no need to copy any other wine region in the world.
A recognition of the potential of the best autochthon varieties and a newly won knowledge that Burgenland and pockets of lower Austria (Niederösterreich) offer ideal climate, weather and soil for red wines has brought a new wave of confidence. Instead of making yet more Cabernet or Chardonnay in a saturated market, Austrians are giving indigenous grapes like Grüner Veltliner, Neuburger, Zierfandler, Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt, and St. Laurent the attention they deserve.
© 2005 Julia Sevenich
