History of wine in Austria

The first traces of Austrian wine were discovered during the Bronze Age, in the 10th
century BC, in the Traisental valley and the Weinviertel.

The discovery of other grape seeds in the Burgenland was during Celtic times around 700 BC. Wine culture then spread to the banks of the Danube (the region we know call Carnuntum) and to Styria, a region in southern Austria. It developed so well there that in the year 92, the Emperor Domitian ordered the uprooting of the vines for fear of overproduction.

Austrian wine during the Roman Empire

During Roman times, Austria then enjoyed a flourishing viticulture. The cultivation of vines was, at that time, prohibited north of the Alps. Emperor Marcus Aurelius lifted this ban. However, the fall of the Roman Empire and the invasion of the barbarians ravaged the Austrian wine estate.

Fortunately, in 788, Charlemagne, under the influence of Cistercian monks, ordered the reconstruction of the Austrian wine estate. This was written in his “Capitulare Villis”, which contained detailed guidelines on viticulture, vineyard maintenance and wine law.

In the 10th and 11th century, these monks brought Burgundy viticulture within the framework of the installation of the Heiligenkreuz collegiate church and the Freigut Thallerne estate in the Thermenregion. At that time, it was the abbeys that operated the vineyards and implemented certain practices such as terrace cultivation in the Wachau for example.

The growth of wine in Austria

In the 12th century, vineyards could be established in towns. Indeed, in 1170, the Babenberg family moved to Vienna, which naturally benefited the capital. The Seitzerkeller wine inn settled on rue Dorotheergasse and 60 followed.

Thus, in the 14th century, the first vineyards were established in Vienna, which then became the center of the wine trade on the Danube.

Although the appellations will come much later, the Hungarian Queen Marie, in 1524, granted the winegrowers of Rust to mark their barrels with a capital R.

In 1526 was born the first “Lutherwein”. The latter is the first dessert wine grown on the land of the Esterhazy princely family. The last drop will be drunk in 1852.

In the 17th century, Austria had 150,000ha of vines. But the Thirty Years War put an end to this golden era, with the invasion of the Turkisch and the creation of beer…

However, in the 18th century, Marie-Thérèse and François-Joseph II brought viticulture up to date. Specifically, on August 17, 1784, Josephinische Zirkularverordnung authorizes “to sell or serve at any time of the year the foods, wines and fruit wines produced by him, no matter how, at what time and at what price“. She has just created the famous Heuriger (or Buschenschank) that we know of today.

The impact of fungal diseases and phylloxéra in Austrian

In the 19th century, it was the turn of fungal diseases to ravage the Austrian wine estate. Oïdium was first discovered in 1850 and Mildiou (Péronopsora) in 1878.

This led to the establishment of the first wine college, Klosterneuburg, by Baron de Babo in 1860, which drew the first outlines of Austrian viticulture. Since 1902, it is now called the “Höhere Lehranstalt für Wein- und Obstbau” and is the oldest wine school in the world.

Unfortunately, after fungal diseases, it was the turn of phylloxera to ravage more than 25% of the national grape in 1872.

Thus in 1914, Austria only had 50,000 hectares of vines.

The new techniques for Austrian viticulture

In 1922, Fritz Zweigelt was head of the college in Klosterneuburg.

If the word “Zweigelt” reminds you of a grape variety, you’re right: he invented the “Blauer Zweigelt” (or Rotburger) by crossing two Austrian red grape varieties: Blaufrankisch and Saint-Laurent. His contributions to Austrian viticulture were tarnished by his membership in the Nazi Party, which allowed him to remain at the head of the college until 1945.

However, the advice provided by this college was not always relevant. Until the 1980s, long after the French realized that it was necessary for red wine to go through malolactic fermentation, the college continued to advise against it. The Austrians then fell way behind in their production of red wine.

In 1950, Lenz Moser of Rohrendorf publishes “Weinbau einmal anders”, where he describes the so-called high culture allowing the mechanization and rationalization of viticulture, thus favoring a strong increase in quantities. In the 1980s, more than 90% of vineyards used these new techniques

The two world wars as well as the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had a direct consequence on the terroir of Austrian wine. Gamser, for example, has Welschriesling vines on both sides of the border.

Thus, since 2015, the Historischer Doppelbesitz has been in place, allowing producers to use the grapes on both sides of the border.

The fall of the Austrian viticulture

At that time, in the 70s and 80s, Austria was the 3rd wine producing country in the world. They therefore attracted a certain number of Germans, fond of the Austrian BA and TBA, to their seaside resorts on the shores of Lake Neudsiedlersee. This led to the fall of Austrian wine production.

Indeed, it was quickly observed that there were more exported wines than produced wines, from Burgenland and the prestigious village of Gumpoldskirchen. In 1985, it was discovered that the exported wine had been altered, that it had been dosed with diethylene glycerol, an antifreeze, bringing sweetness to the wines. Four producers were charged.

A year later, more than twenty people died because of this practice in Italy. However, for unknown reasons, this will not tarnish the latter’s reputation.

The comeback of Austrian wines

Following this antifreeze scandal, as baptized by history, Austria adopted the strictest laws in Europe in terms of wine production. The Austrian Wine Academy was founded in 1991 and dry whites are becoming more and more in demand.

In order to restore the image of Austrian wines, Alois Kracher traveled to London in 1993 to take part in a blind tasting. He presented Austrian sweet white wines alongside the greatest Sauternes, with Château d’Yquem in particular. These Austrian white wines were a sensation there.

“The London Tasting”, organized in 2002 by Jancis Robinson MW and Tim Atkin, was a blind tasting comparing Grüner Veltliner wines and Chardonnays. These international wines came from wineries such as Ramonet, Louis Latour, Jadot, Gaja (Italy), Mondavi (California) and Penfolds (Australia). The first four places were taken by local Grüner Veltliner and Chardonnay.

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Creation of wine legislation in Austria

In 2001, Regional Wine Committees were set up with the aim of: “improving the coordination of sales, the development of typical wine styles for the regions and close collaboration with the Austrian Wine Marketing Board for marketing and the positioning of the wine region”.

The same year, they created the concept of “DAC” (Districtus Austriae Controllatus). The first DAC was the Weinviertel DAC, with the first vintage being 2002.

Mittelburgendland DAC was the second in 2006 and from 2007 to 2009, three more were created : Traisental DAC, Kremstal DAC and Kamptal DAC.

In 2010 were created Leithaberg DAC and Eisenberg DAC.

In 2012, the Neusiedlersee DAC for Zweigelt wines was created.

In 2013, Wiener Gesmischte Satz became the 9th DAC.

In 2018, four more DAC were created : Rosalia, Weststeiermark DAC, Sûdsteiermark DAC and Vulkenland DAC.

In 2019, two more DAC were created which sums it up to 15 DAC with Carnuntum DAC and, finally, Wachau DAC.

Finally, to date, Austria ranks 17th (or 19th depending on the rankings) in the world for wine production, of which 65% is white. Its vineyard area is 46500ha, which corresponds to less than half of the Bordeaux region. The farms are often family owned, and increasingly run by young people in their thirties who have traveled a lot. Consumption is mostly local, although exports are growing steadily in Germany and Switzerland.