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From the Austrian Wine Marketing Board, February 2005

The very changeable year 2004 got off to a positive start – with plenty of precipitation. Especially in the eastern wine growing areas there was a lot of snow, and after the heat wave of 2003 the vines could recuperate under a white duvet. Unfortunately, the weather continued just as wet and cool, and budding was delayed considerably in some cases. The sun refused to come out even in May and June, blossoming occurred late, and was partially marred by persistent rain. A natural limitation of yields at this early stage was the result.

When a persistently cool and rainy July delayed ripening further, pessimism began to spread among the producers. The change came with a radiant August and a similarly beautiful September, which even created some sun damage on younger vines. With the beginning of September cool nights began to accelerate the creation of deep aromas in the grapes. The rain returned just as the harvest of early varieties had begun, and it continued for most of October. In the Danube valley and its subsidiary river valleys, but also in the Weinviertel and in Vienna, persistent fogs and high pressure episodes created additional complications, as the resulting high humidity gave the grapes hardly a chance to dry off between rain falls. In Styria conditions were even more difficult, while the wine growing areas of the Burgenland were more favoured by the weather.
One man’s loss is another man’s gain: the sweet wine producers could hardly suppress contented smiles. Late and quickly, they harvested great amounts of concentrated nobly-sweet grape material. The low temperatures necessary for ice wine, however, failed to materialize. Only Eisenstadt was an exception here.

Wines with a marked Austrian style
In view of the changeable weather conditions, the most important white varietals show a considerable bandwidth of qualities. Strong fungal attacks required painstaking protection and very careful green harvest, and those unwilling or unable to do extensive work in the vineyard had to content themselves with low sugar levels. Targeted and sustained work in the vineyard, however, also made possible very high sugar gradations by early October, even if sugar levels did not continue to rise afterwards, and the grapes did not concentrate through evaporation because of the high humidity.
Because of their almost ideal acidity, the young wines taste fresh and racy, though never too aggressive. In concert with good extract values, these have become well-balanced and animating wines, perfect vehicles for varietal typicity. Especially Grüner Veltliner and Pinot Blanc will profit from this, but also Muskateller and Chardonnay. The Traminer wines, too, have plenty of character while the Rieslings are still closed and slow to develop.

High-quality white wines harvested in early or mid November are marked by very low quantities. Those which are free of botrytis, however, show great complexity and race.

In Styria, some producers have decided not to bottle single-vineyard wines, while others will only bottle very small batches. Otherwise, we can hope for many fresh and lean wines, in the well-known “classic” Styrian style. Wine lovers looking for character and power are more likely to find what they are seeking among the whites of the Burgenland, which achieve a rare elegance. The late and sudden noble rot has created a multitude of sweet wines in the bastions of nobly-sweet wines in the sweet-wine bastions northern Burgenland; here, qualities and quantities are reminiscent of 2002 or even 1998, though it is still too early to judge on the style of these wines.

Surprising red wines
It is a fairly reliable rule of thumb to assume that in Austria, hot and dry years favour red wines, while cool and humid years are better for whites. Fortunately, there are also years that offer ideal conditions for white and red: such years were 1999, 1997, and 1993. After the controversial vintage 2004 we are observing a different phenomenon: cool and changeable weather resulting in top qualities for some red wine types. This is true particularly for Zweigelt, St Laurent and Pinot Noir, which were harvested before the great rains around Lake Neusiedl, but also in the Lower Austrian red wine islands of Thermenregion and Carnuntum. These are very attractive wines with beautiful colours, power, and great length. High sugar levels resulted in alcohol similar to 2003, but the aromas will probably prove to be much deeper and more complex in 2004.
In Central and Southern Burgenland, too, the varietal Zweigelt has created some very powerful and substantial red wines. The late-ripening Blaufränkisch is particularly dense and rich in tannin and already shows spice and cool dark berry aromas and indicates that, perhaps against expectations, we can hope for some outstanding wines. The French trend varietals may create the biggest surprise yet: a number of powerful and charming Merlots is making the race ahead of all others.

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View available wines from the 2004 vintage.

This vintage report is ©Austrian Wine Marketing Board