Press Releases 2002

2002-12-31  –  The beginning of this otherwise capricious year was unspectacular. A mild, dry winter was followed by an amiable and equally dry spring marked by several warm, sunny days as early as March and April. The resulting early budding and flowering at the end of May was unproblematic. After several very hot days in June, which remained the warmest of the entire year, a variable July followed. Read more

2002-12-30  –  Austrian wine can look back on another good year, said Wine Marketing Director Michael Thurner and Federal Wine Growing President Josef Pleil at the annual press conference of the Austrian Wine Marketing Service, held at the Vestibül restaurant in Vienna. A high market share at home as well as record export figures and the establishment of regional wine committees support the competitiveness of Austrian wines, especially in view of the impending enlargement of the European Union. Read more

2002-11-15  –  Austrian wines have once more successfully defended their top ranking among the world’s greatest. A comparative blind tasting on 30 October 2002, initiated by the fine wine dealer and collector Jan-Erik Paulson, and hosted by Jancis Robinson MW and Tim Atkin MW, highlighted the astounding potential of Austria’s Chardonnays and of its “secret weapon”, the Grüner Veltliner grape, a varietal with immense profundity and expressiveness. Austrian Chardonnays and Grüner Veltliners were compared to some of the world’s most prestigious Chardonnays from Burgundy, California, and Australia. Read more

2002-11-12  –  Statistic Austria estimates the 2002 Austrian wine grape crop to bring 2.6 million hectoliters (1 hectoliter = 26.4 U.S. gallons). This means a production increase of 4% over the previous year and 11% over the past decade’s average. Read more

2002-10-03  –  Research carried out by Statistik Austria suggests that the wine harvest 2002 will be around 2.5 m hectoliters, a quantity similar to 2001, though an additional one percent may be expected throughout the country. Hail and floods have had only very localized effects on predicted harvests. Read more

2002-09-20  –  The Fifth European Health Forum Gastein, which took place in Bad Hofgastein, 25-28 September 2002, was the occasion of a lecture by Dr Resch (consultant at the Landeskrankenhaus Krems) in which he presented the results of a comparative study on the interaction between white wine and health. Read more

2002-08-23  –  Especially in wine growing regions of Kamptal, Kremstal and Wachau, the floods caused significant damage to some producers. The effects on the overall quality and quantity of the 2002 vintage, however, are not expected to be significant. Read more

2002-08-15  –  The first Falstaff Wine Guide published in English was presented at the International Masters of Wine Symposium in Vienna. Read more

2002-07-25  –  The most recent edition (141) of Robert Parker's "Wine Advocate" is dominated by Austria. After an extensive tasting journey through Styria, Lower Austria, and the Burgenland, Parker's right-hand man, Pierre Rovani, directly summarizes his findings: "the Austrians were welcoming, gracious, and passionate about their work. More importantly, their wines are superb." Read more

2002-07-15  –  Wine educators and trade professionals met from July 22nd to July 27th 2002 at the Anaheim Hilton for the Society of Wine Educators 26th Annual Conference. Members of the Society of Wine Educators were able to participate in an online ''Austrian Wine Adventure Tour'' www.winesfromaustria.com in preparation for an all day seminar and ''Proficiency in Austrian Wine'' exam. Ten trips to the Austrian Wine Summit in June 2003 were awarded to top-scoring participants. Read more