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| Austrian wine regions are all in the east of the country |
Some relevant facts learned today.
Today Austrian wines are 68% white (Grüner Veltliner is top with 32%) and 30% red (zweigelt at the top with 13%).
These are grown over some 45,000 hectares of vineyards (about 1% of the world wine production) with some 15% now certified organic and 18% certified "sustainable."
In addition to a large walkaround choice of wines, a few masterclasses were offered as well, and it is on two of these that I will focus my post.
Masterclass 1: Zweigelt in Neusiedlersee
A few dates by way of introduction:
1922: successful crossing between St Laurent (an early ripening, delicate fruit grape) and blaufrankisch (a late ripening grape with firm tannins) to produce zweigelt.
1950s: many experimental vineyards are launched
1960s-70s: significant increase in production, 770 ha in 1978.
1992: first designated area of origin Rubin Carnuntum, zweigelt becomes the top red grape in Austria
2012 DAC (Districtus Austriae Controllatus) granted.
Below some notes from the best wines (all zweigelt) I tasted in this masterclass:
Seegut Lentsch - Podersdorf Neusiedlersee, Ried Seeweingärten DAC reserve 2017Firm tannins, mod complex and length, vegan certified. Score 88
Hannes Reeh - Andau - Unplugged 2015
feels older than 2015, balsamic notes, leather, perfect balance. Score 90
Georg Preisinger - Gols, Ried Dorfweingarten 2009
Feels much younger, still zesty. Cassis, blackberry. Ready but with potential in the bottle. Score 90
GV Ried Schönberger Kalvarienberg 2021
