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For Austria's wine producers, the Pro Wein is by far the most important event abroad. More than 160 producers and dealers from all wine growing regions of the Alpine republic will participate this year, and 1,300 m² of exhibition space will be devoted to Austrian wine, a surface area exceeded only by Germany, Italy, and France.

On the 27th of March at the Hotel Bel Air in The Hague, the Dutch wine cognoscenti will be presented with delicacies from Austria's wine regions.

(All's Well That Ends Well, or Nerves of Steel Only, Please) A dry winter which was so mild that it hardly deserved to be called winter at all was followed in most wine-growing areas by a spring that was dry and pleasant, allowing the vines to develop normally. The hot and summery weather in May even brought to mind the heat records of 2000. After a good blossoming period right up to mid-June a…

Gourmets and wine connoisseurs can again look forward to a choice wining & dining event - Vinova 2002 is just around the corner.

Österreichische Winzer stellen an der London Wine Trade Fair aus.

The third VIEVINUM wine festival, first held in 1998, will be taking place this year from Saturday 8 June to Monday 10 June 2002. As usual the setting will be the Vienna Hofburg. The impressive atmosphere of Imperial Austria provides a unique environment for the presentation of wines which fulfil today's expectations of quality and lifestyle.

Human beings are by nature creatures of habit - perhaps a carry-over from primitive survival instincts. Always safer to go with what, where and whom you know. I am just wondering whether that habit is the reason that when it comes to white wine choice, it is almost predictable 95 times out of 100 that the choice will be a chardonnay wine, again 95 times out of 100 it will be a white burgundy. Text…

Top Austrian winemakers proudly continue to make world class Grüner Veltliner, resisting the temptation to jump on the international grape variety bandwagon. The quality revolution in the winelands of Austria over the past fifteen years has brought with it the most innovative winemaking techniques from around the world, leading to experimentation with various international grape varieties. Despite…

The ceremonial hall of the Vienna City Hall was the backdrop for honoring Austria's 200 chosen SALON wines during a presentation to professionals. This annual showcasing of the best of Austrian wines culminated in the naming of 11 SALON members and the 11 SALON winners. Celebrity patrons awarded the certificates.

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."

All the ships have come in for the Austrian Wine Marketing Board," says Wine Marketing Director Michael Thurner. As already reported, 300 international dealers, gastronomes and journalists travelled through Austria's wine-growing areas and visited the VIEVINUM 2002 in the Imperial Palace in Vienna. In addition to this, the Master of Wine Congress to be held in July, the O.I.V. Congress 2004, will…

The Fifth Masters of Wine Symposium in Vienna gave international experts an opportunity of studying Austrian wines. Brief Interviews with participants were held to document their professional opinion. The result was very encouraging for Austrian wine, and excerpts from conversations with wine VIPs Jancis Robinson MW and Tim Atkin MW may stand for many. The quality and individuality of Austrian…

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…

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.

The first Falstaff Wine Guide published in English was presented at the International Masters of Wine Symposium in Vienna.

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.

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.

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.

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…

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…

The extremely variable weather challenged many vintners to their limits, but diligent vineyard management was rewarded in the end. The white wines of the new year are fruit-driven and precisely defined, displaying wonderful harmony. The reds are characterized by a sleek, charming “Austrian” bouquet and clear varietal expression, comprising wines which offer drinking pleasure in their youth. The…

Since 1971, the Austrian Wine Growers Association has been awarding the Bacchus Prize to people who have performed outstanding services to Austrian wine. This year, the Bacchus Prize 2006 was awarded to Arne Ronold MW at a ceremony held on November 6th at the OldUniversity of Graz in Austria. Also given the prize was Franz Fischler, the former EU Commissioner for Agriculture. Following a…

Every year the same questions arise: Too much sun for our vineyards? Or perhaps too little? Is there sufficient water and are our grapes resilient enough?

As of December 31, 2006, Michael Thurner will leave the Austrian Wine Marketing Board after 8 years as executive manager and will turn with the new year towards new tasks. Starting January 1, Willi Klinger will step forward as his successor, one able to draw upon many years of broad national as well as international experience in the field of wine marketing.

Everything from immense satisfaction to traces of euphoria is being expressed throughout all of Austria ’s wine growing areas. That’s the beginning-of-November verdict for the 2006 harvest, which is nearing completion. The last of the grapes to be harvested – those mainly used for premium category wines - will be brought to the cellars within a short time. In every Austrian wine region, there are…

VieVinum is Austria’s most important wine exhibition. Every other year, over 400 native winemakers present their wines during an impressive presentation in the Vienna Hofburg. The Austrian Wine Marketing Board (AWMB) takes care of the international flair and has invited over 500 opinion leaders from the wine distribution market, journalism and gastronomy from 31 nations to Austria. In addition to…

Austrian wines performed brilliantly at a blind tasting of 50 of the world’s best Sauvignon Blanc. Not only with the younger vintages, but among the mature wines, the winners were Austrian. Austria, and in particular Styria, was able to secure its image as producer of elite world class Sauvignon Blanc.

Since 2002, all of the wine growing areas in Austria have the opportunity to market their typical wines under a system of controlled designation of origin (Dac). And now, the first Austrian red wine growing area to adopt the DAC strategy, the Mittelburgenland, is introducing - with the 2005 vintage - typical Blaufränkisch wines under the name Mittelburgenland Dac. There are more powerful…

Mag. MBA Michael Thurner, seit 2002 Geschäftsführer der Österreichischen Weinmarketinggesellschaft (ÖWM), wird seinen mit Jahresende 2006 auslaufenden Vertrag auf eigenen Wunsch hin nicht verlängern. Die Weinwirtschaft blickt auf eine positive Zusammenarbeit zurück und wünscht sich Kontinuität für die Nachfolge.

Mit diesen Worten betitelt der internationale Weinexperte René Gabriel seine Januar-Ausgabe des anerkannten Journals "Weinwisser". Insgesamt wurden dabei über 260 österreichische Weine des Jahrgangs 2003 verkostet. Die besten 130 davon sind nun im "Weinwisser" erschienen. Fünf Weine aus dem Burgenland, Carnuntum und der Thermenregion erhielten vom Schweizer Wein-Guru sogar die Topnote 19 von 20…

Endlich ist er da, der heiß ersehnte Frühling. Und mit ihm gemeinsam erfreut auch einer der ersten kulinarischen Frühlingsboten unsere Gaumen – der Spargel. Am besten schmecken die weißen und grünen Spitzen mit dem richtigen Wein. Die „Selektion Spargelwein“ der österreichischen Weinmarketingservicegesellschaft (ÖWM) prämiert jedes Jahr die besten Wein & Genusskombinationen. Der Grüne Veltliner…

The largest specialist wine trade fair in the world, the VINITALY/Verona, takes place this year from 30 March to 3 April.

Die Staatsmeisterschaft der österreichischen Weine, der SALON 2006, ist geschlagen. Wie jedes Jahr bringt er einen spannenden Mix aus jung und alt, traditionell und modern. Und der 19. SALON bringt einiges Neues: Die SALON-Plätze in den Weinbaugebieten werden erstmals nach Weinstilen vergeben, neben den SALON-Siegern und SALON-Auserwählten hebt die Kategorie SALON-Gold besonders gebietstypische…

The new Wine Millennium will experience its first highlight from 3rd to 5th June 2000 - VIEVINUM at Vienna's Hofburg, the former Imperial Palace.

A "quiet" Austrian vinous dynamo is being poured at more and more tables around the world. The wine world’s imagination already has been captured by some of Austria’s treasures: outstanding whites such as Grüner Veltliner and Riesling from the Wachau; impressive reds like Blaufränkisch and Zweigelt from the Burgenland, and supremely luscious botrytised dessert wines from around the Neusiedlersee…

The Traisental, one of the smallest wine-growing areas in Austria, has begun to strengthen the strategic positioning of its wines by establishing - with the 2006 vintage – a typical wines of origin programme, and through marketing these wines under the Traisental dac designation. With these steps, the Traisental becomes the third member of Austria´s dac family. And for the first time in this…

85 Austrian Wines Receive BioFach 2007 Wine Awards. Austria´s winemakers once again demonstrated just how fine their bio wines are – as their wines snapped up numerous awards at the world´s biggest bio wine competition held recently in Nürnberg, Germany.

After the young wines were tasted all around Austria, and the first verdicts were in, it was clear: the euphoria over the 2006 harvest was certainly not exaggerated! However, there was a drop of bitterness, as couloure conditions in the vineyards were responsible for substantially lower grape yields, especially with the leading variety of the Lower Austria (Niederösterreich) region - Grüner…

A recent and renewed interest in Austrian wines has seen them beginning to appear on the lists of serious wine merchants. This book looks at the history of Austrian wines from early Austrian wine culture to the recent explosion of experimentation, investment and innovation. The reader is introduced to the main wine-growing-areas, their landscape and the wines they produce.

Since 1995, Austria’s Donauland wine-growing area has comprised two sub-areas: Wagram (2,450 hectares) north of the Danube river, and Klosterneuburg (350 hectares, which includes Tulln and Atzenbrugg) south of the Danube. The differing climatic and geological characteristics of each of these sub-areas, however, made the creation of a centralized identity very difficult. Moreover, as the…

For several weeks now, the grapes in Austria’s vineyards have been undergoing a very diligent 2007 vintage harvest. In some regions, such as Burgenland and Vienna, the harvest is already nearly complete, while in cool wine-growing areas in Lower Austria and Steiermark, the harvesting of top-level grapes has only recently begun. The weather conditions in 2007 - hot summer; rainfall at the beginning…

A series of national and international awards prompted the association of the 17 Bioveritas Wine Estates to go public and to present the "excellent biological wines" together for the first time.

Austrian Wine Marketing, which is intensifying its activities in the United States, recently held its largest PR presentation ever in New York by celebrating the Austrian national holiday with several special events.

Now that the vast majority of Austria's grapes have been harvested for the 2000 vintage, we can confirm that the experts' predictions have proved to be correct: quality is excellent, and quantity is slightly lower than usual.

This year’s wine harvest in Austria has turned out to be a fine and fruity one. The following summary of the 2007 vintage provides some of the important highlights.

The Austrian wine community is mourning one of its greatest pioneers. Alois Kracher died early in the morning of December 5th from complications due to cancer. His death came unexpectedly to many in the wine community. With Alois Kracher's passing, Austria has lost an irreplaceable visionary, not only because his wines achieved so much international success, but also because of his dedication and…

Through an ordinance adopted on December 10th by Austria’s Minister of Agriculture and the Environment, Josef Pröll, quality wines produced with either the Grüner Veltliner or Riesling grape varieties in the Kremstal wine-growing area can, for the first time, be marketed under the designation Kremstal DAC. The new designation takes effect with wines from the 2007 vintage. With its new dac status,…

Wenn die Lese in den Weingärten vorüber ist und die traditionellen Erntedankfeste ausgiebig gefeiert wurden, dauert es nicht mehr lange bis der „Junge Österreicher“ uns den ersten Einblick in den neuen Weinjahrgang erlaubt. Am 8. November präsentierten Österreichs Winzer und Weinhändler erstmals den „Jungen Österreicher“ und „Steirischen Junker“. Mit dabei waren auch junge Stars der heimischen…

Österreichs Winzer und Weinhändler waren im Jahr 2006 erneut erfolgreich. Ungeachtet verstärkter Konkurrenz konnten die Marktanteile im Inland verteidigt und sogar noch ausgebaut werden. Im Flaschenweinexport realisierten heimische Winzer trotz kleiner Erntemenge 2005 eine konstante Wertschöpfung. Eine flexible EU-Weinmarktordnung könnte laut Weinbaupolitik helfen, heimischen Wein als genussvolles…

Die ersten warmen Tage des Frühlings laden ein, die Zeit an der frischen Luft zu genießen. Die österreichischen Weinbaugebiete bieten dabei eine besonders attraktive und genussvolle Variante, den Frühling, die Sonne und die Lebenslust zu begrüßen.