The First DAC Wine comes from the Weinviertel
DAC: The New Key to Austria’s Wines
(AWMB, April 2003) - With the introduction of the DAC system, Austrian wines will, of the first time in the country’s history, privilege a wine’s origin over its grape varietal. The Weinviertel, Austria’s largest wine growing area is blazing a trail with the “Weinviertel DAC”, a typical Grüner Veltliner with a clear profile. The introduction of DAC (Districtus Austriae Controllatus) wines is designed to combine a denomination of origin with a clear profile of taste and other characteristics. Consumers especially will be aided in making their choice by being able to rely on unambiguous information. “Only if consumers can get an idea of the taste of the wine by looking at the label will we get a competitive advantage in the long run,” says Michael Thurner, Wine MBA, Director of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. Restaurants will also profit from the new initiative, as their guests will be able to choose Austrian wines more easily. Strategic Improvement of Exports Export markets will benefit most from the new system. Until now, Austria’s exports suffered from the bewildering range of varietals, crus, and regions, as well as the small structure of individual wine growing areas, a situation that made competitions with larger wine exporting regions almost impossible. Moreover, due to their small production size, few Austrian producers can guarantee a regular annual supply of wines to foreign dealers. The appellation of origin will create a firm link between a wine type and a region, making it easier for dealers to satisfy customer demand reliably by marketing entire regions. In the medium term, this will result in a significant improvement of export numbers. “We are convinced,” tells Thurner, “that we will be able to double export numbers within a few years.” Clear Profiles in International Context With its DAC initiative, Austria is joining the ranks of great wine growing countries already operating such a system, such as Italy (DOC), France (AOC), and Spain (DO). Here, names of individual regions have become clearly identifiable “brands”, e.g. Chianti, Rioja, and Chablis, while the importance of grape varietal has decreased. Regions with appellations of controlled origin have therefore created a profile for themselves which cannot be copied elsewhere, as it is linked to geographical origin. “Grape varietals are transportable, but not appellations,” illustrates Michael Thurner. The Weinviertel Takes the Lead Austria’s first DAC wines are already on the market. More than 400 producers from the country’s largest wine growing area, the Weinviertel (north of Vienna), now offer wines with the denomination “Weinviertel DAC”. These wines are made of the Austrian flagship varietal Grüner Veltliner (which covers 50% of vineyards in the area). They are characterized by their peppery spice, its delicate fruit, and its light yellow or greenish yellow colour. The wines must conform to the legal definition of “Qualitätswein” (quality wine) and are selected by a process of rigorous blind tasting, ensuring not only a high wine quality, but also a uniform character comprising regional and varietal typicity, at least 12% alcohol (displayed on the label), no discernable wood on the palate, and without marked alcoholic character. Regional Committees Define DAC Type The introduction of the DAC system in other Austrian wine growing regions is preceded by the establishment of regional committees, in which producers and dealers together determine marketing and production strategies. The goal is to establish clearly the profile of the wine growing region and its wines, which are then marketed as “Wine Growing Region + DAC”. The next DAC to be declared will probably be Mittelburgenland, which plans to introduce the system with the 2003 vintage. Favourite for the status is the Austrian red varietal Blaufränkisch, a powerful, dense and long-lived red wine with typical, regional character. Other areas will follow suit as the international face of Austrian wines is about to be transformed. Press Information/April 4, 2003 |
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