Austria

Question 1

Austria is flanked by

Answer 1

Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, and the Alps.

Question 2

Austria produces less than

Answer 2

1% of the world’s wine but is exceptionally high in quality. They have been producing for thousands of years.

Question 3

Climate and topography

Answer 3

Continental, Danube River and tributarities (steep slopes along river moving into rolling planes, Rolling Hills east of Alps

Question 4

Grapes of Austria

Answer 4

White Majority of plantings over 70%
– Grüner Veltliner
– Riesling
• Red Only 30% of plantings
– Zweigelt
– Blaufränkisch
– St.-Laurent

Question 5

Austria’s wine styles

Answer 5

Very dry or very sweet. Not off dry. New oak is rarely used on white wine.

Question 6

Wine without geographic indication

Answer 6

Wein

Question 7

Wine with geographic indication

Answer 7

Landwein (PGI)-regional rarely exported,

Qualitatswein (PDO)-Dry wines of demarcated areas, Pradikatswein (PDO)-sweet wines like BA, TBA and Eiswein.

Question 8

What is the DAC

Answer 8

Districtus Austriae Controllatus

Question 9

Four main growing regions in Austria

Answer 9

Niederösterreich (Lower Austria)
Burgenland
Steiermark (Styria)
Wien (Vienna)

Question 10

What is the largest wine growing region and what grapes does it focus on

Answer 10

Niederösterreich (Lower Austria). Gruner Vetliner and Riesling. Dry and unoaked.

Question 11

Most important subregions of Niederosterreich

Answer 11

Kremstal DAC located in the valley of the Krems River
Kamptal DAC located in the valley of the Kampt River
Wachau many of Austria’s best vineyards are located in the Wachau
on a narrow band of steep slopes along the banks of the Danube.

Question 12

Wachua has its own system for quality DRY wines based on ripeness level at harvest.

Answer 12

Steinfeder
11.5% maximum alcohol. The lightest of the three styles and named for a
local grass found in the vineyards
Federspiel
11.5 – 12.5% alcohol. Named for a falconer’s tool
Smaragd
12.5% minimum alcohol. Named for an emerald-colored lizard that suns
itself in the vineyards. These wines are often made from very ripe grapes
and produce intensely rich, dry white wines.