Can Austria rival Burgundy for single vineyards?

Austria’s vineyard classification system gives Burgundy a run for its money, with the country homing in on exceptional single sites, writes Gabriel Stone. Everyone likes to talk terroir. More than a few people like to try to define it. Burgundy’s entire identity is founded on the demarcation of specific sites with a distinctive character, often based on the methodical expertise of medieval monks. But Burgundy does not have a monopoly on terroir – nor indeed the monastic tradition. In fact, if you want a contemporary example of diligent single vineyard focus, rigorous classification approach and dedication to communicating what makes these sites so worthy of our attention, there’s another corner of the world that arguably sets the gold standard. “Austria is the only country now with a national vineyard classification system,” observes Chris Yorke, CEO of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board (AWMB). While Bordeaux, Champagne and Burgundy classify their wines by producer, village and vineyard respectively, Austria has managed to implement a consistent, origin-based system across every DAC. As with Burgundy, this takes the shape of a pyramid, with regionally typical wine (Gebietswein) at its base, rising through more specific village wine (Ortswein) to the single-vineyard pinnacle (Riedenwein). As of 2023, some single vineyards, or “Ried”, in certain regions are legally permitted to distinguish themselves further with “Erste Lage” (premier cru) or “Grosse Lage” (grand cru) status. You might expect a generic body to nod politely towards these single-vineyard expressions before insisting that its focus lies in promoting the less rarified wines that, after all, represent a far greater proportion of production. Yet Yorke is clear that, far from being a high-end niche, these single-vineyard wines chime perfectly with the country’s wider marketing strategy. “We position Austria as a premium wine country, a sustainable wine-producing country and a nation with a mix of tradition and modernity,” he outlines. “Within the premium wine angle, we want people to understand the pyramid of regional, village and ‘Ried’, that they’re going through a hierarchy of quality.” Noting that the country now has 5,000 officially demarcated single vineyards, Yorke highlights the major, generic-level investment that has gone into promoting these, most notably in the form of a free, highly detailed website, austrianvineyards.com

Energy and focus

It’s hard to imagine any other country summoning the collaboration, energy and focus required to put such a resource together. Likewise, you only have to look at the stasis whenever St-Emilion attempts to update its own classification to appreciate how key those same attributes have been to the implementation of such a consistent, transparent system across Austria. “We love a law,” jokes Yorke of his adopted country. But he’s also keen to stress that the classification mission is rooted in Austria’s “major quality drive” over the last 40 years, and producers’ desire to sustain this progress. “There’s no resting on your laurels in Austria; there’s less arrogance than you’ll find elsewhere,” he suggests. “Then there’s the Austrian way of thinking: ‘How do I codify that?’”

Much of this single-vineyard classification work has been spearheaded by the Österreichische Traditionsweingüter (ÖTW), a producers’ association that now includes 90 members across eight DACs. For a subject as intangible as terroir, ÖTW managing director Michael TischlerZimmermann is beautifully clear-sighted about the organisation’s chosen approach. While Burgundy’s vineyard-centric system provided natural inspiration, not least because of the Benedictine and Cistercian monks who introduced this same mentality to Austrian wine production in the 1100s, the ÖTW has added its own thoughtful twist. Rather than assess a vineyard based purely – and relatively simply – on the value of either the land or the wine it produces, Tischler-Zimmermann outlines a wider focus on the site’s “relevance”. That may sound alarmingly linked to social media hits, but the reality, he assures, sees far more quality control. It’s not just geology, climate, vineyard management and price, but also history that receives weighting here, with criteria including “the first documentary mention” of a vineyard.

Photo credit: Robert Herbst  Then there’s the “external assessments by experts”, most significantly at the annual ÖTW Single Vineyard Summit. This convenes an international array of importers, press, sommeliers and retailers at Grafenegg Castle to taste around 500 wines from ÖTW Erste Lagen and single vineyards. Tischler- Zimmermann explains: “Creating, maintaining and further developing this system was and is an immense effort that will make our classification relevant now and in the future.”

Fitting the mould

For all the classification success achieved by the AWMB and ÖTW, it’s perhaps inevitable that not every region, producer or vineyard fits the mould. Andreas Wickhoff MW, general manager for Weingut Bründlmayer, a founder ÖTW member estate, concedes that a system born in Kamptal and Kremstal doesn’t necessarily fit the way other wine regions have evolved. “Burgenland has never had a history of classification, like in the Rhône,” he observes. “For them, it doesn’t make sense.” It’s a sentiment echoed by Torsten Aumüller, managing director of the Burgenland’s Neusiedlersee DAC. “Overall, the ÖTW classification system is very much tailor-made to the regional and local circumstances of Lower Austria and Vienna,” he observes. As the country’s second-largest DAC, Neusiedlersee vineyards “tend to be bigger in size”, Aumüller notes. That factor can make the expression of a very specific site feel a less important means of achieving the overriding goal. “A winemaker always and continually strives to bring the best possible result into the bottle in harmony with the vintage,” says Aumüller. However, he acknowledges producers’ growing awareness that “displaying individual vineyards on the label currently seems to be of great concern, especially to the world of wine critics and wine journalists.” Meanwhile, down in Styria, the Steirischen Terroir und Klassikweingüter (STK) association of 12 top producers currently sees no need to merge with the ÖTW. That said, so closely aligned are its values that STK wines are now included in the ÖTW Single Vineyard Summit.

Photo credit: Ross Weinberg 

Embracing the zeitgeist

Even if they’re not members of these elite organisations, a growing number of Austria’s producers have embraced the single-vineyard zeitgeist. “Thirty years ago, no-one was talking about single-vineyard wines in Weststeiermark,” remarks Stefan Langmann of Weingut Lex Langmann. Today tells a very different story, not least at his own estate. “It’s the best thing to do,” insists Langmann. “It’s the heart of the grower, his most special sites.” For the moment at least, though, this vineyard-focused narrative is at odds with how most consumers buy their wine. “In Austria and all our export markets, they are looking for grape variety,” acknowledges Langmann. Nevertheless, he remarks of one of his top “Ried” wines: “For me, the dream would be in 10 to 15 years just to have Greisdorf on the label, not Sauvignon Blanc.”

Photo credit: Anna Stöcher It’s a similar story for Langmann’s Schilcher, a Weststeiermark rosé specialism made exclusively from the local Blauer Wildbacher variety. Although suggesting that, of his fellow producers, “only 5% make serious Schilcher”, Langmann believes single-vineyard expressions such as his Ried Hochgrail can elevate its reputation. “I think the grape fits perfectly with this area to make the best wine from this variety,” he explains. “For me, Schilcher is my heartbeat – it’s 65% of my production. To show the serious face of this grape variety is the most important thing we can do for our region.” Even in the ÖTW’s Kremstal heartland, there can be a gap between a producer ’s most prestigious vineyard and the one that’s closest to their heart. Weingut Christina & Rainer Wess may have Erste Lagen Ried Pfaffenberg and Ried Kögl in its portfolio, but Christina Wess singles out for special attention a vineyard which produces a wine that cannot legally display the word “Ried” on its label, or even the basic DAC qualification. That’s because, in 2011, she and her father began replanting it with Pinot Noir instead of the designated Grüner Veltliner or Riesling on which Kremstal’s identity is based. “We are now cultivating about half the vineyard, and the other half still needs to be recultivated and some stone walls need to be rebuilt,” reports Wess. “This vineyard taught me that nothing happens overnight and nothing needs to happen overnight if it is meant to last.” In a country dominated by just this sort of family operation, Wess offers a reminder that vineyards aren’t just lines on a map. They’re where you – and often earlier generations – played as children, helped grandfather to prune, or fell in love with a partner. You can’t classify any of those factors, but a careful winemaker can transmit that affection into the wines. It may be even more difficult to pin down in the glass than terroir, but there are few better places to begin this search than Austria.