2000 Vintage:
The Wine of the Century at the Start of the Millennium?
(by Viktor Siegl)
The expectations aroused by the 2000 vintage were bringing smiles to
the faces of Austrian wine-growers and wine-lovers as early as Advent.
Nevertheless, it is well to be cautious in judging the ultimate quality
of such a promising vintage; many of the young wines have yet to be bottled
and are still at a very early stage of their development. But let's stop
to consider briefly how such an extreme year produced such pleasant and
anything but extreme results.
Following a rather wet winter devoid of periods of severe frost and a
March with plentiful precipitation, the vineyard soils were full of moisture.
That proved to be extremely important, because an unbelievably warm and
sunny spring began the week before Easter and continued throughout May
and June. Those two months were the warmest of any in the past two hundred
years. In addition to wind and heat - with temperatures at the Feast of
Corpus Christi of 38.3 C° - the "pre-summer summer" also
produced extreme drought in the eastern wine-growing areas. Only Styria
was somewhat spared. Flowering occurred by mid-May without any problems.
A rather cool and rainy July finally provided the needed precipitation,
which however remained rather sparse along a band stretching from the
southern Weinviertel of Lower Austria to the Seewinkel of Burgenland.
In August, sun-worshippers with short memories were already complaining
about the fickle summer of 2000 when a new heat-wave arrived, practically
roasting the grapes on the vine and hastening maturity by around three
weeks. Thus red-wine grapes in Burgenland were already changing colour
by the beginning of August! It was not just the vines recently planted
that suffered during the hottest days of August, but in general also those
that were planted on porous soils. At the end of August and in September
light showers provided the necessary moisture, and September for the most
part saw a continuation of the magnificent late-summer weather. A period
of changeable, wet weather did not arrive until the second week of October.
Combined with (too) warm nights in exposed areas such as the Wachau, this
resulted in sudden botrytis growth. However, the rest of October was for
the most part an Indian summer of calm, clear weather, permitting the
individual wine-growers to harvest at will. Finally, a warm November with
low precipitation and average temperatures well above 10 °C kept autumn
spirits high. In particular, there was an almost complete lack of the
dreaded periods of fog in low-lying areas.
Redder Than Ever Before
By this time, there were high spirits instead of early winter depression
in the cellars of the red-wine specialists as well, where most of the
red musts had undergone both alcoholic and malolactic fermentation without
any problems. And it should be noted that the red-wine harvest had never occurred so early: in Wagram, for
example, the best Pinot Noir vineyards had been harvested by the end of
August; older wine-growers compared the vintage with that of the similar
years of 1945 and 1947. By this time, the grapes of some red-wine varieties,
especially Zweigelt and Pinot Noir, were already beginning to shrink like
raisins. Haste was necessary, and the question was hanging in the air
whether the juice of such unusually mature grapes wouldn't be too jam-like
and low in fruit. Initially at least, such fears have fortunately proved
to be completely unfounded, as may be tasted in the first samples from
the barrel. While the young Austrian red wines are without exception of
unbelievably deep colour - in the case of varieties such as Cabernet and
Blaufränkisch almost deep-black in hue - they are characterised by
the typical Austrian fruity brilliance, despite the record must readings.
To the extent that such predictions are possible at this early stage,
it appears they will be distinctly more heavy and concentrated than the
1999 vintage, which was already quite full-bodied and attractive. They
also probably have just as much tannin and substance as the slow-to-develop
1997 vintage, but without its severity and pungency. In all, the red wines
of the 2000 vintage combine the merits of the 1997 and 1999 vintages,
resulting on the whole in a superior wine.
Apart from the progress made in the vineyards and cellars, which makes
a comparison with earlier vintages more difficult, the fabulous 2000 vintage
is also said to surpass with greater or lesser clarity those of 1986,
1992 or 1993. Even lesser qualities of Zweigelt are persuasive in their
warm fruitiness and supple structure, while Blaufränkisch wines are
unbelievably profound, balanced and surprisingly soft. The Cabernets are
characterised by enormous maturity, which completely inhibits grassy undertones,
while St. Laurent and Pinot Noir may in any case be considered an inside
tip. Summing up, the most impressive features are the early balance and
fine-grained, ripe tannins as well as the fact that the specific fruity
notes have been preserved, despite the heat-waves and resulting thick-skinned
grapes.
Consistently High Quality
Also astonishing is the consistently high quality of the white wines. It is found in every wine-growing area and variety, so that it would be inappropriate to single out individual locations or types of grape. Veltliner grapes were enormously ripe and powerful; wine-growers attempting to achieve a "normal" Kabinett quality were practically forced to harvest early. The Riesling grapes, which develop more slowly, were characterised by elegant fruitiness and roundness. In both cases, acidity was in the mid to low range but without any deleterious effect on the taste. In contrast to the hot years of 1983 and 1992, which created distinct roasted aromas and sometimes burnt undertones, the 2000 vintage does not have the character of a particularly hot vintage year. In retrospect this is not so surprising: the spring was extreme but not the summer, which permitted the grapes to ripen under relatively normal and favourable conditions.
Thus even the powerful white wines of the Burgenland were able to retain
the qualities typical of their varieties. Ageing in oak barrels (en barrique)
would seem more than logical, for example, for the Burgundy varieties.
There is general rejoicing in the Styrian wine-growing areas over a vintage
expected to outshine to some extent even the best years of "modern
times": 1990, 1993 and 1997. A high degree of ripeness and yet expressive
fruit are uniting at an early stage into a harmonious whole. The pleasant
and unusual thing about it is that this description fits every grape variety
from Welschriesling to Sauvignon. Compared with the rest of Austria, Styria
perhaps enjoyed a small additional advantage in that repeated small Adriatic
depressions provided short, light rain at just the right time, but there
were no heavy rains, so that dangerous rot did not occur in some areas
until the middle of October. The Sauvignons are characterised by unusually
powerful extracts, which, however, did not displace the fruit and spice.
After a long lean period, Muscat fans may again look forward to exceptionally
grapey and attractive wines.
It is only natural that the Schilcher wines of western Styria should do
well in such a year, given their inherent acidity; the more daring producers
will certainly have tried various "experiments" in making Spätlese
and red wines from the Wildbacher grape. There are even reports of Trockenbeerenauslese
wines (!) being made from this grape variety.
All in all, it may be expected that with regard to white wines the competition
between 1999 and 2000 vintages will be seen as a neck in neck race. At
the moment the 1999 Veltliner and Riesling wines appear almost unsurpassable
- whether the 2000 vintage can approach this high level remains to be
seen in the coming years. In the case of the Burgundies and the varieties
with a pronounced bouquet, such as Muscat, Traminer and Sauvignon, the
profound 2000 vintage could lead by a head at some future time, but this
must be considered purely speculative.
In the case of sweet wines, the uniformly mild weather up to mid-December
means that Eiswein - made from grapes frozen on the vine - will be available,
if at all, only in extremely small quantities. Because of the delayed
appearance of botrytis, Prädikatswein was also harvested in rather
small quantities, even among specialists, i.e. in Rust and the surrounding
area. There was a continued tendency to produce Prädikatswein of
high and highest quality in areas that up to now were not known for such
specialities. For example, both Styria and the Wachau region, where botrytis
appeared late but then rather intensely, produced a surprising variety
of dessert wines, sometimes in considerable quantity. Thus, all in all,
the Austrian vintage year of 2000 may be said to be planted solidly on
three legs!
The full and creamy appearance and the discreet acidic structure of the
white wines as well as the southerly, fully ripe red wines rich in tannin
have raised expectations that the top Austrian wines of this year will
create a sensation on export markets as well.
Contact:
Austrian Wine Marketing Board:
Thomas Klinger
phone: +43/1/503 92 67/34
fax: +43/1/503 92 68
email: info@weinmarketing.at
