Austrian Wine Showcase

Austria has a long and illustrious winemaking history dating back to the Celts and the Roman Empire. Today it enjoys a reputation for producing top-quality wines to some of the loftiest standards set by any European wine-producing country. Its landlocked borders are shared with eight countries and while it only makes wine from around 48,000 hectares its varying climates from lowland pastures to mountainous ranges produces a wonderful array of wine from aromatic whites, sweet and sparkling wines to the full gamut of reds.

Its flagship varietal gruner veltliner reaches it heights here with its herbaceous nose and tightly coiled palate brimming with energy and subtle complexity. Its riesling's are nothing short of world-class and the best give its cousin Germany to the east a run-for-their-money. For its reds, unique varietals like blaufrankish and sweigelt are some of its most famous exports making wines from light and easy drinking styles perfect for Stehachterl (standing-Achterl, a glass of wine drunken quickly whilst leaning against the bar) to full and robust drops perfect for its cold winter nights.

Kamptal - Situated in the north of Austria, this is one of the main regions for Gruner Veltliner with cold weather and with varied soils across undulating vineyards.

Wachau - Maybe best known for Riesling there is plenty of fantastic Gruner Veltliner grown here too. Undoubtably the best known of Austria's wine regions, the Wachau (as with Kamptal) follows the massive Danube river, with vineyards planted on its banks.

Burgenland - Heading up into central eastern Austria, the Burgenland region borders Hungary and is red wine country red mainly from Blaufrankisch. Look a bit harder too and you may just fin some rare but incredible sweet wines too.