Soil, Climate, Vines, and Wine Makers
280 million hectolitres of wine are made every year in the world. Austria produces less than one percent of this total. A small wine country like Austria therefore has to aim for the highest possible qualities in order to be able to compete. Four components are decisive: the soil, the climate, the vines, and last but not least the human factor: the people who make the wine by trying to find the ideal balance between the characteristics of the soil, the microclimate, and the grape varietals ideally suited to these circumstances.
The Soil
The soil is a crucial factor for character and quality of the wines. Two different extremes of soil qualities are airy, light soils, and heavy, dense ones.
Sandy soils like loess quickly absorb warmth. They can produce top qualities if they receive sufficient water. Heavy clay soils are more suitable for storing moisture, which in turn makes them liable to get waterlogged. These soils will bring high yields, but can also produce powerful wines with plenty of extract. The opposite is true for light erosion soils, also those containing primary rock, which offer ideal conditions for slender, elegant, and fruit-driven wines.
There are many different soil types in Austria’s vineyards. Loess dominates in the Weinviertel and the Donautal. Primary rock (granite and weathered granite) are a characteristic component of the soils around Krems, Langenlois and in the Wachau, the Thermenregion has more chalky soils. The soils of the Burgenland vary greatly. The range extends from slate (close to the Leitha mountains) over loam, gravel, marl, loess, to pure sandy soils. Brown earth and volcanic soils (near Klöch) are found mostly in Styria.
The Climate
The wine growing areas of Austria are situated in a temperate climatic zone without great extremes, between 47 and 48 degrees latitude, just as Burgundy in France. (A point of reference: Baden, to the south of Vienna, is almost exactly on 48 degrees latitude.)
The vegetation period from budding in spring up to the falling of leaves in autumn reaches up to 200 days, depending on the varietal. Warm, sunny summers and long, mild autumn days with cool nights are typical for most Austrian wine-growing regions as the coutnry’s climate is dominated by the interplay of Pannonian influences (the continental climate reaching into Austria from the Hungarian steppes) and more moderate European conditions of the wooded countryside extending to the north and west.
The annual precipitation in the easterly areas can be as little as 400mm, going up to 800mm in Styria. With its capacity for reflecting warmth and balancing out temperature extremes the Danube is another important influence on the microclimatic conditions of individual wine growing areas. The sandy shores along the large expanse of Lake Neusiedl offer ideal conditions for the ripening of nobly-sweet wines.
The height above sea level is another important factor: around 200 meters, going up to 400 meters in Lower Austria and, in extreme cases, to 560 meters in the Styrian villages of Kitzeck and St. Andrä.
The Vines
The large variety of grapes cultivated in Austria reflects the different soils and climatic influences in the vineyards. Some twenty white and ten red varietals are grown to a significant extent. Around three fourths of the surface under vines is dedicated to white varietals, though red grapes have been on the increase recently. More about this later.
The Winemaker
It is left to the winemaker which varietals are chosen for the vineyards. In order to achieve high qualities one criterion is of great importance. The limitation of the yields; the soils has only a limited amount of nutrients and minerals to impart and cutting down on the amount of grapes will concentrate their characteristic flavours and other important elements.
In practice this can be achieved by work on the vine (training of the vine itself and thinning after blossoming and just before the harvest). The Austrian wine law allows a maximum yield of 9000 kg per hectare, as discussed below in the chapter “Legally Yours”. In working with the grapes themselves carefulness is the watchword above all others. Minimizing the mechanical stress on the grapes during and just after harvesting, working with gentle pressing methods and carrying this attention to detail right into the cellar are key factors in the production of a wine that is true to the quality of its grape material.
