After 2000 Years, Austrian Wine Comes of Age

The Time is Ripe to Discover One of Europe’s Best Kept Secrets

Although its origins can be traced back more than two millennia, the Austrian wine industry really didn’t begin attracting the attention of the rest of the world until ten to fifteen years ago. But thanks to an exciting “crop” of ambitious young winemakers, increases in research, education, and financial commitment on the part of the industry, and the perfect climate in which to put these resources to work, Austria is now turning out a wide range of world-class wines. Critics, connoisseurs, and consumers are taking note and rapidly changing the nation’s reputation from “Europe’s best kept secret” to “the wine world’s next big thing.”

Austria’s wine region is situated on the east side of the country, at the same latitude as France’s Burgundy. With the combined influence of Atlantic airstreams from the west, the continental climate off the Hungarian Plain to the east, and the Pannonian streams from the south, Austria offers the ideal climate for growing an enormous range of grape varietals. Chief among these is the indigenous Grüner Veltliner, which has been transformed from the easy-drinking, refreshing staple of the country’s wine cafes to the foundation of a number of superior white wines that balance fruit, acid, and alcohol with a trademark peppery spiciness. Austria’s “G-Vs” have been wowing critics at the world’s foremost wine publications for several years now, and recently took the top two spots in a blind tasting of Austrian whites, Burgundies, and New World Chardonnays held by the United Kingdom’s leading wine experts.

But Grüner Veltliner is just one of many varietals that thrive in Austria: this is a landscape of terroir-driven, small-vineyard producers working in four distinct winemaking regions and nineteen individual wine areas, each with its own specialties. From the renowned Rieslings of Wachau, to the superior sweet wines of Lake Neusiedl, to the Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch red grape vineyards of Südburgenland, Austria’s wine districts produce outstanding bottlings in almost every conceivable style. Increasingly, foreigners are joining native Austrians in experiencing this remarkable variety firsthand by traveling to one of the most congenial, culturally significant, and scenically captivating wine-producing regions in the world.

The Lower Austrian (Niederösterreich) province, in particular, is an unparalleled holiday destination for anyone with an interest in wines. Describing an arc around Vienna (which is the only European capital to have an important wine-growing district of its own), Lower Austria comprises eight separate wine areas of tremendous natural beauty.

Combining the capital city’s legendary artistic, architectural, and musical attractions with the opportunity to sample delicious fresh wines directly at the source, this has become a must-experience vacation for wine and culture lovers. Lower Austria’s Wine Route makes the second part of the itinerary seductively simple, providing a detailed map of 150 villages and 1,500 wineries, along with local wine taverns, restaurants, wine shops, hotels, and other businesses selected for their quality. And the recently opened LOISIUM wine center in the Weinviertel’s Langenlois is a remarkable new museum that combines ancient wine cellars with state-of-the-art installations to create a compellingly different way of understanding wine.

From world-class wines with a growing critical reputation to a one-of-a-kind wine region with an unmatched blend of culture and "viniculture," the Austrian wine scene has truly come of age. The time is ripe to discover Austrian wines – perhaps on a trip to Vienna and Lower Austria. Or, as a wine writer might put it, "Drink now, don’t hold."