Wines of the World Series: Spotlight on Austria
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) resulting in great diversity of wines produced.
Austria produces wide range of wine styles, from sparkling, light and fruity, to opulent, sweet and botrytised.
Most wineries are family-owned, with 4ha of vineyards in average, and are traditionally committed to sustainability.
Germany is Austria’s top export market - 60.1% of all wine exported is sold in Germany.*
⚖️ Wine laws:
Legislation distinguishes the following categories of wines with origin, aligned with the EU laws:
Landwein (identical to PGI)
Qualitätswein (identical to PDO) divided into 3 subcategories:
o Qualitätswein from generic regions corresponding to
federal states
o Qualitätswein from specific regions positioning their terroir wines by defining focal varieties and regionally typical styles (currently 17 specific regions)
o Qualitätswein with Districtus Austriae Controllatus (DAC) status for wines differentiating their particular region by their typicity, suitability to local conditions, and long-established importance (currently 18 DACs).
There are 42 grape varieties – 28 white and 14 red – officially approved for the production of Qualitätswein and Prädikatswein.
Qualitätswein can further have a designation of Kabinett and Prädikatswein (Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese, Eiswein, Strohwein/Schilfwein)
Austrian sparkling wine has its own PDO - Sekt Austria (PDO).
🔎Did you know?
Austria shares the same latitude as Burgundy.
In 2002, Austrian wines made a breakthrough in the historic ‘London Tasting’ organised by Jancis Robinson MW and Tim Atkin MW. At this blind tasting Austrian Grüner Veltliner and Chardonnay wines wont the top four prizes.
28% of the total area under vine are certified sustainable.*
The 1995 “Vinothek” Riesling from the Nikolaihof winery was the first Austrian wine to be awarded 100 Parker points in 2014.
Vienna falls into two categories as both generic wine-growing region and specific wine-growing region.
🎓Learn more:
Explore upcoming Austrian Wine Events to participate in trade shows and tastings.
Discover Austrian wine producers.
Browse this catalogue of Austrian wines.
Explore how to read Austrian (and not only) wine lists.
Discover vintage statistics (from 1992 to 2025).
💬Share your thoughts!
Have you visited any Austrian wine region? Do you have a favourite Austrian wine or producer? Have you ever tried Austrian Sekt? Where in Berlin do you find Austrian wine and cuisine? Share your thoughts in the comments!
All resources, maps, images and data courtesy of Austrian Wine.
➡️Coming up: Austrian white wine varieties.