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White wine in the Austrian countryside
One day not far away, wine consumers across the world will embrace the white wines of the Niederösterreich region in the north and west of Austria with the kind of passion they reserve for the white wines of Napa Valley or Burgundy. Grüner veltliner from the region of Niederösterreich will appear as ubiquitously on wine shop shelves and restaurant wine lists as sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and pinot grigio.
Why?
Because white wines of Niederösterreich are refreshing, concentrated, rich, and graceful. Because the white grape vines of Niederösterreich thrive in a diversity of wine terroirs, from the loess layers to the volcanic ash. Because the white wines of Austria pair with so many kinds of cuisines, from those of Europe to the Americas, from those of the Near East to the Far. And because many if not most of Austria’s wine growers cultivate their vines and vinify their juice on small, family estates.
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Niederösterreich is the great wine region of Austria.
Three of its primary subregions are called the Kamptal, the Wagram, and the Wachau
Kamptal
Named for the river Kamp, the Kamptal is a subregion synonymous with grüner veltliner. The Kamptal’s distinctive soils benefit its vineyards with loess, gravel, sandstone, volcanic ash, and a geological curiosity called Heiligenstein, which translates to Holy Stone. The region’s climate benefits its vines with heat from the Pannonian basin to the east and cool nights from the breezes of the Waldviertel to the north and west. These grüner veltliners are herbaceous and citrusy, with stony minerality and bright acidity.
Wagram
There’s the serious side of Austrian culture. This is the side of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Anton Bruckner, Rainer Maria Rilke and Gustav Klimt. And then there’s the party side of Austrian culture. This is the side of the yodel and the waltz, of Apple Strudel and Wiener Schnitzel. Both of these sides cohabitate in the wine region called the Wagram.
The name Wagram derives from the German Wogenrain, which roughly means surfside. In the region, loess soils from eras of glaciers cover subsoils of marine deposits from the ancient course of the Danube River. This terroir is ideal for veltliner grapes, both Austria's national treasure, grüner veltliner, as well as Wagram's autochthonous specialty, roter veltliner, with its singular, complex, and elegant character.
The white wines of the Wagram are renowned for their rich, intense fruit, creamy texture and distinctive minerality—the serious side of Austrian culture—which is balanced by a vibrant, but soft acidity and spicy flesh fruit character—the party side.
Wachau and Nikolaihof
The region of the Wachau is home to the great white wines of Nikolaihof. These grüner veltliners and rieslings—both young vintages and old represent profound and straight up hardcore wine experiences.
The history of the Nikolaihof vineyards has its origins with the Celtics. The vineyards were developed by the Romans, then occupied by Germanic monks. Records document the monks’ ownership of the estate, as well as of a vineyard called Im Weingebirge, the earliest named vineyard site in all of Europe. Over a hundred years ago, the Saahs family acquired Nikolaihof, committing themselves to what the monks established at the estate. As a result, its vineyards have never been farmed with any kind of chemicals. More than fifty years ago, the estate began its practice of biodynamic farming, making Nikolaihof one of the first biodynamic wineries in the world.
The wines of Nikolaihof are just as rich and noble as its history. They offer an insight into the soul of Austria—its land and its people, as well its wine.
