Wine General Discussion

We're thrilled to continue the Wines of the World Series with a spotlight on Austria. Over the coming weeks, we’ll explored key regions and varieties with resources from Austria Wine, who have generously agreed to share their content with the Berlin Wine School community. 📖 Austria key facts:

• Austria has 44,210 ha under vine.*

• The most planted varieties are Grüner Veltiner (32.3%), Zweigelt (13.4%), and Welschriesling (6.3%).*

• Wine history dates back to the Bronze Age. It was strongly influenced by the Romans, and marked by historical, political, and cultural shifts that defined today’s wine regions and traditions.

• Austria lies in a transitional zone between oceanic and continental climates and has 4 climatic areas. Summer and autumn have warm, sunny days and cool nights with northerly winds - key for development of aromatic, fresh wines with a good body and finesse.

• It has diverse geology and soils (from crystalline stone terraces, loess and limestone, to volcanic soils)…

Ahead of next week’s masterclass on Japanese wine (Tuesday, 28 April 2026), I’d like to share a brief overview of this emerging player on the international wine scene.

The session is now sold out, so thank you all for your support. If you weren’t able to join this time, I hope this gives you a reason to explore some of Japan’s fascinating wines!

📍 Location

• Japan spans from 26°N to 46°N, covering climates from subtropical to subarctic

• Around 17,630 hectares of vineyards are planted (OIV, 2024), including both table and wine grapes

• Today, more than 700 producers make wine across Japan, in all but one prefecture

Ahead of the upcoming masterclass on Argentinian wines, dedicated to Malbec at the Berlin Wine School, I’m sharing a few essential insights to get you in the right mindset and build some anticipation.

Even if you’re not attending, this might inspire your next wine discovery!

Where?

Malbec finds its most compelling expression in Mendoza, nestled along the eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains:

-Key areas include Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley

-Located between 32° and 34° south latitude

Hello everyone,

The Berlin Wine School is planning a 🎓 Spanish Wine Scholar course for autumn 2026. To share more Spain-related content during the course period, we're pausing the spotlight on Spain and will resume it in autumn.

🌱In April, the series will continue with content linked to the upcoming masterclasses on Argentinian Malbec and Japanese wine. These posts are meant to give you the essentials of each topic and help refresh your knowledge ahead of the masterclasses.

🌸In May, we’ll continue the series with a spotlight on Austria.

As always, stay tuned and feel free to share your feedback or insights on any of these topics.