Definition: Austria

Wine-growing regions: 16 areas in 4 wine-growing regions. Four-fifths of Austria has a mountain climate, which is why the main vineyards are located in the east of the country. The wine-growing area is divided into 4 regions:

The wine-growing region of Lower Austria covers 30,000 hectares and includes the wine-growing areas of Wachau, which has terraced vineyards along the Danube, Kremstal, Traisental, Donuland, Weinviertel, Carnuntum and Thermenregion.

In the Burgenland region, 16,000 hectares are cultivated, spread across the following wine-growing areas: Neusiedlersee, Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, Mittelburgenland and Südburgenland. This region is located near the border with Hungary, where summers are hot and winters are often very cold.

The wine-growing region of Steiermark (Styria) covers approximately 3,600 hectares of vineyards, partly in the Südsteiermark area and partly in the Südoststeiermark and Weststeiermark areas. Located near Slovenia, it is influenced by a southern climate.

Around Vienna, there are a total of 600 hectares.

Vineyard area:

Austria: 17th largest wine producer in the world.

Austria covers an area of approximately 84,000 km² and has around 50,000 hectares of vineyards spread across 40,000 estates, of which only 6,500 bottle their own wine. The others take their wine to cooperative or private cellars. The vast majority of farms remain very small and viticulture is mainly a secondary activity.

Production:

Between 1980 and 2000, production fluctuated constantly. For the 2000 harvest, Austrian wine production amounted to 2.3 million hectolitres, which is below (-3%) the long-term average of 2.4 million hectolitres, and approximately 17% or 465,000 hectolitres below the forecast for the year. These variations are mainly due to climatic conditions during the vine growth period, with high temperatures in 2000, resulting in a lot of sunshine and low humidity. This led to a small harvest of 1,664,000 hectolitres of white wine and 674,500 hectolitres of red and rosé wine.

Grape varieties:

Austrian wines are often varietal wines. Austrian vineyards have around thirty grape varieties approved for the production of quality wines and "Prädikatswein", which are labelled wines.

Red grape varieties account for 28.8% of the total production area. Blauer Zweigelt is the most widely planted variety, accounting for 18.7% of red grape varieties. It is followed by Blaufränkish (10%).

White grape varieties are the most widely grown, accounting for 71.2% of all grape varieties cultivated. The main variety is Grüner Veltliner, which is the local variety and accounts for 38.5% of the total area under white grape varieties. It is followed mainly by Welschriesling (6.8%), Rheinriesling, etc. White wines are still very much present. The distribution of grape varieties has slowly evolved over the last 10 years, but until 1990, there was still a slow but steady evolution. In fact, reds are being replanted in large numbers and their quality is increasing, thanks in particular to changing consumer tastes.

Storage:

A reverse trend. The storage of quality wines is increasing. Compared to forecasts for the year 2000, Austrian wine has seen a 14% increase in storage due to higher yields in 1998 and 1999.More than two-thirds (68%) of the wines in storage are quality wines, followed by local wines (12%), table wines (9%) and Prädikatswein (labelled wines) (7%). The fact that the stock of high-quality wines increased by 15% between 1999 and 2000 clearly demonstrates the Austrian wine sector's desire to develop the production of quality products.

Consumption:

Since 1981, Austrians have consumed around 2.5 million hectolitres of wine per year, or 30.9 litres per capita per year. Local consumption is therefore slightly lower than Austrian wine production, which stands at around 2.7 million hectolitres of wine per year.

Trends in Austrian consumption in hectolitres:

53% of consumption takes place in households, compared to 38% in restaurants and other establishments. In terms of value, sales in the catering sector (hotels, cafés and restaurants, fast food outlets and Heuriger, which are a type of wine tavern) represent a value of 126 billion schillings, or around 9 billion euros. Specialist shops account for only 9% of wine consumption in Austria.

87% of the wine consumed is Austrian. Domestic consumption consists mainly of Austrian wines, followed by Italian wines, which account for 9% of the wine consumed. French wines account for only 3% of domestic consumption. Austrian wines are less valuable than those from other countries, but remain the leader in terms of volume.

77% of wine bottles sold come from Austria. The market share for bottled wine (75 cl) is around 77% in volume and 71% in value for Austrian wines. Next are Italy (volume: 12%, value: 14%) and France (volume: 5%, value: 8%).

Imports:

In 2000, 517,249 hectolitres of wine were imported. Imports grew strongly between 1995 and 1998 due to a decline in the domestic harvest. Since then, imports have been declining as harvest conditions have become more consistent.

Trends in Austrian imports over 15 years

Italy: leading supplier by volume

Country Volume (litres) Value (€1,000) €/litre

Italy 29,778,527 51,194.74 1.71

Germany 7,216,117 12,720.14 1.76

France 5,164,950 26,868.45 5.2

Spain 2,896,413 8,679.14 2.99

Source: StatistikAustria.

Italy ranks first among imported wines, from which Austria mainly purchases table wines, resulting in a relatively low value per litre.

The second largest importer is Germany, followed by France, which ranks third in terms of volume but first in terms of value.

The French wines purchased are mainly high-quality red wines, as Austria produces large quantities of white wines and red wine consumption is growing.

Other new producer countries are nevertheless well represented, thanks in particular to their very competitive prices.

Exports:

Exports are on the rise. In 2000, total exports reached 365,025 hectolitres, representing a 43% increase over ten years. One explanation for this is that exports of table wines have fallen sharply, in stark contrast to sales of quality wines, which continue to grow.

Exports of Austrian wine by volume over the last 15 years:

Source: Statistik Austria

Germany is Austria's largest customer in terms of value and volume

It is followed by Switzerland and the USA in terms of export value. The Czech Republic and Slovakia are the second and third largest destinations in terms of volume.

Value (in €1,000) Volume (in 1,000 hl)

Country 2000 1997 2000 1997

Germany 28,499.74 21,656.80 27,360,409 13,397,112

Switzerland 2,701.90 1,162.69 429,596 245,156

United States 2,057.08 596.43 280,938 112,081

Czech Republic 1,009.72 1,365.60 4,040,943 2,373,500

Slovakia 505.73 17.66 1,779,846 7,035

Of these five countries, Austria has seen a noticeable increase in its exports to the United States (rising from ninth to third place in terms of value in three years) and Slovakia (the volume of wine exported ranked 26th in 1997 and third in 2000!). The other countries tend to remain relatively stable in terms of both volume and value of wine exports.

Key players in the sector:

ÖMV (Österreichische Weinmarketing service gmbH)

This organisation supports and coordinates the efforts of wine authorities in terms of quality and sales. Its aim is to ensure that the quality wine market segments dominate. In addition, bottled wine exports are set to grow significantly over the next 10 years.

Further information can be found at the following links: