Excellent quality, but quantity slightly downAustria's 2000 Vintage Will Be a Real Rarity(AWMB, November 2000) - Now that the vast majority of Austria's grapes have been harvested for the 2000 vintage, we can confirm that the experts' predictions have proved to be correct: quality is excellent, and quantity is slightly lower than usual. While there were no significant losses due to hail or frost, the dry spring weather, and hot weather in August and September resulted in smaller grapes and a yield that was less than anticipated. This year the yield is will be around 10-15% less than last year's with only 2.4 - 2.5 million hectolitres expected in total. The advantage of the warm weather, however, was that grapes were extremely healthy and ripe. Early maturity meant that the harvest started far earlier (about two to three weeks) than usual throughout all of Austria's wine regions. Quality was superb in all of Austria's wine producing regions. The harvest for dry whites and reds was completed by mid-October. Top quality grapes for late-harvested dry wines were picked by beginning of November throughout Austria, and the harvest for sweet wine grapes in Burgenland is expected to continue until the end of the month. Results are expected to be universally excellent for all regions and styles of wine. With the exception of some short rainy periods in early October, the autumn was dry, beautifully sunny and, in the first phase, unusually warm. While the warm weather has resulted in gentle acidity, the cool October nights have given white wine grapes in the best vineyard sites excellent aromatic definition, so Austria's 2000 whites are expected to have perfect balance. Quality for reds is predicted to be quite simply fantastic. "Apart from its significance as the millennium wine, the 2000 vintage is going to be a real rarity, judging from the quality of the harvest. We can expect this to be a great vintage for both reds and whites - balanced and complex wines of excellent quality," said Bertold Salomon, Director of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board in Vienna. For further information, please contact:
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