Richards Walford      Importers of Wine  
Austria, Slovenia & Hungary
Previous Reports
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Austria 2008 Vintage Report - June 2009 “Down to the Line”
Austria 2007 Vintage Report - June 2008 “A Dip in the Curve”
Austria 2006 Vintage Report - July 2007 “Groβe Busen
Austria 2005 Vintage Report - June 2006 “Focus and Finesse”
Austria 2004 Vintage Report - June 2005

Austria 2003 Vintage Report - June 2004
Austria 2002 Vintage Report - June 2003
Austria Report - June 2002


Austria 2009 Vintage Report - June 2010 “Alles in Ordnung”
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Introduction

Modest people for the most part, the Austrians, they don’t do vintages of the century, and don’t understand the need to increase their prices, when they see other countries going collectively bonkers. I suppose it’s probably because they make wine to be drunk, as part of a culture of gastronomy and good living, rather than as trophies and objects of speculation in a dangerous game of one-upmanship.

The Austrian Wine Marketing Board sent out a mixed message in its annual report saying that the weather had been all over the place with extreme conditions both in Spring and Summer – “storms, floods and mud slides, record lightning and hot tropical conditions” – whilst maintaining that 2009 was an exceptional vintage in the long run of such vintages finishing in 9 right back to 1959. This is all very confusing and no-one I spoke to described a superb vintage triumphing over such an apocalyptic weather cycle.

It is clear that flowering was early and fruit set poor (especially for the Riesling) so reducing the potential size of the harvest. Also apparent is that there was a lot of rain towards the end of the summer, leading to botrytis, and smaller volumes of wine at Federspiel level, as sugar levels rose very quickly. At the same time, there is evidence of good concentration of acidity too, making for straight wines which are not immediately exuberant. Within my own tasting memory, I am most reminded of 2001 or of 2005 with slightly less intensity.

Roy Richards
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