Austria 2014: A Catastrophe? Not Qualitatively!

At several stages, the 2014 growing season in Austria’s Riesling and Grüner Veltliner-dominated growing regions offered a near mirror image of conditions in 2013. Yet, meteorological opposites though they often seem when viewed on a month-by-month basis, each ended-up delivering wines comparatively high in dry extract, pronounced in acidity and low in alcohol. The deviations from the norm in 2014, though, were extreme. And only very selectively could growers achieve ripeness and depth of flavor—not to mention aromatic and textural allure—that could be compared with the norms of downright sensational 2013.

Prime acreage of Riesling and field blends on Vienna’s Nussberg

A Rainy Year With a Small Crop

The 2014 vintage presented the greatest challenge to building must weights since at least 1994 (some growers would say since 1987 or 1984); the greatest challenge from rot since 1998; and the cumulatively rainiest weather in memory. The upshot at many estates was a harvest one could well call catastrophic—in bottom-line economic terms, that is. At many estates only a pathetically small volume could be painstakingly picked at the highest labor costs ever recorded. Qualitatively, though—albeit improbably, given the odds—the story is dramatically different. At most top addresses, a majority of 2014s are delightfully distinctive, and not a few of them memorably so. The 2014s may also shock someone who did not experience typical Wachau, Kremstal or Kamptal wines of the 1980s, when acidity levels were typically pronounced and alcohol rarely exceeded 13%.

A vivid impression of the challenges of the 2014 growing season can be gleaned from even a superficial glance at what various Wachau growers chose to bottle. The spread of must weights this vintage would not have been deemed exceptional had they been recorded in the late 1980s—the first years in which the three weight classes of Steinfeder, Federspiel and Smaragd were differentiated—and would then have resulted in collections dominated by Federspiel but happily boasting a significant share of Smaragd. In 2014, though, many growers were concerned that wine lovers have become too accustomed to richness and stuffing to accept as either Federspiel or Smaragd wines that analytically approach the lower limits set for those categories. As a result, wine from many sites that have over the past two decades consistently delivered dedicated Smaragd bottlings was this year bottled as vineyard-designated Federspiel, or blended into village-designated cuvées. And in lieu of village-level Federspiel, many growers chose to chaptalize, thus forfeiting the right to utilize any of the Vinea Wachau’s trademarked trio of stylistic descriptors. That having been said, some growers bottled their typical ranges, if at Smaragd level often in painfully small volumes. This enormous variation from one Wachau portfolio to another reflects not only the aforementioned decisions regarding style and labeling, but also local meteorological conditions and viticultural knack.

Jutta Ambrositsch in her vineyard with Edgar