Steiermark: daytrip with Weinakademie

 Hello everyone,

It has been a while since I posted and I am sorry, the D3 exam preparation is taking up ALL of my time!

Anyways...

What regions spring to mind when you think about Sauvignon Blanc? The Loire Valley? Marlborough, New Zealand? Maybe Bordeaux's Pessac Leognan Blanc or California's Fumé Blanc?

Well you have to know that in South-East Austria, on the border with Slovenia, there is a region called Steiermark which is now famous for producing excellent wines from Sauvignon Blanc.

Glass of wine with a view

Maybe this wasn't a surprise for some of you, most probably people living in countries such as the Netherlands or UK, but you have to know that in Italy we really don't get Austrian wines so this was a pleasant discovery!

View from a hill of Styria's landscape

As I said Steiermark, or Styria, is in the South-East of Austria, bordering Slovenia. It is a region of rolling hills, steep vineyards, breathtaking views and has made a name for itself for Sauvignon Blanc. 

Of course many other varieties are grown here like Morillon (local name for Chardonnay), Welschriesling, Weissburgunder and Blauer Wildbacher from which the extremely high acidity rosé Schilcher is made, the wine with the highest acidty I have ever tasted.

While I was in Rust for one of the D3 sessions the Weinakademie organized a day trip to Styria so we could get to know this region and its wines better. 

We started off our day at the Vinothek in St. Anna am Aigen were we got the chance to taste wines from all over Styria from different varieties, from regional to cru level.

We had an awesome tasting at Walter Skoff winery with leadin Styrian producers and ended our day with a kickass masterclass on Steiermark Sauvignon Blanc.

Tasting a Ried Schemming Sauvignon Blanc, the Schemming vineyard where the grapes for this wine were sourced is the one you see in the background

Within the federal state of Steiermark there are 3 DAC regions (Districtus Austriae Controllatus, very similar to our Italians DOC/DOCGs): Südsteiermark DAC, Weststeiermark DAC and Vulkanland Steiermark DAC; each with their own peculiarities and styles.

In Steiermark there is a hierarchy of quality for wines, very similar to Burgundy's: at the bottom we have gebietsweine, or regional wines, these would be one fo the 3 DACs, then we have the ortsweine, or village wines, and at the top we have the riedenweine, single vineyard wines; these sites have been carefully analysed, selected and classified for their unique properties and the consistent high quality of wines made from these vineyards. For all three levels hand harvesting is required and only  8"traditional" grape varities are allowed, 9 in Weststeiermark which also comprises Schilcher/Blauer Wildbacher.

Further more a group of wineries came together and made their own, more restrictive rules on vinegrowing and winemaking to increase quality. The STK further divides the top of the pyramid, the Riedenweine, into Erste STK Ried (equivalent to premier cru) and Grosse STK Ried (equivalent to grand cru). This a voluntary association and is not part of the law regulating the DAC appellation.

Steiermark Sauvignon Blanc masterclass

But let's start from the bottom and work our way to the top of the "quality pyramid".

Südsteiermark is, of course, in the south and even though it is the smallest region it actually has the largest vineyard plantings of the three at 2788 ha. 

The Südsteiermark DAC Gebietswein are classic expression of the Sauvignon Blanc variety showin clear varietal character (gooseberry, asparagus and herbaceousnotes) with a high acidity. Given the strong, warm Mediterranean influence the fruit ripens perfectly and the cool nights slow the ripening process and allows the development of rich aromas and flavours, this means the strenght of the herbaceous notes is not as strong as the Sauvignon Blanc's from Marlborough and they show more fruit while still retaining the typical high acidity of the variety. 

These are the wines that made Styria famous on the international market. 

There are 5 communes in Südsteiermark, each with different characterising soils.

The biggest ortswein is Gamlitz, Sauvignon Blanc here grows on predominantly sandy or sandstone soils, these soils warm up and cool down very quickly making the diurnal range more marked, this inturn leads to ripe fruit flavours.

Ehrenhausen sits on heavy limestone soils and Leithakalk (marine sediment of ancient corals and fossil shells). These soils typically show extreme varietal character and a linear but sharp acidity; in my opinion a go-to if you like Sauvignon Blancs.

An ortswein I found particularly interesting was Ehrenhausen. Vines here grow on limestone and Opok (a calcareous marl a maddy maritime mud that has hardened and entrapped silts or sands). The combination of these two soils lead to a warm, plush Sauvignon Blanc with very ripe fruit character but a refreshing acidity and a surprising salty finish.

View from the top of one of the highest vineyards in St Anna

Vulkanland Steiermark takes its name, you guessed it, from volcanoes. In the south of the region there are a few extinct vulcanoes, which is unique for Austria. Overall these volcanic soils make up just 10% of the toal vineyard area and most of the other vineyards are on deposits left by an ancient sea and riverbeds.

The volcanic soils are of two types: tuff, which are rocks that have been launched during the explosion of the volcano, and basalt, which is cooled magma. 

Here the Pannonian influence from Hungary is strong, bringing warm dry air again leading to ripe grapes showing even tropical fruits in the case of Sauvignon Blanc.

Vulkanland Steiermark has 9 villages within, the most interesting and characteristic of which sit on volcanic soils.

Kapfenstein, Kloch and St. Anna sit on extinct volcanoes. The soils are all porous tuff and basalt, these soils retain warmth and release onto the vine at night prolonging the ripening period.

The wines grown on these soils show very pronounced and expressive aromas, and I know it is a controversial topic but they have a minerality that really lighten and elevate their character.

Weststeiermark is the smallest of the three regions at 641 ha. Here the main climatic influence is the cool, dry Alpine air which moderates the warm summer temperatures leading to very fruity and high acidity wines. Here the focus is more on Schilcher than it is on Sauvignon Blanc.

In fact 450 of the 546 ha of this region are planted with Blauer Wildbacher. Of humble origins and once a very rustic wine drunk by farmers, now Schilcher is a point of difference for Weststeiermark. The wines of today are made with modern winemaking techniques and producers aim to show the fruit character of the grape, some also make barrel aged examples; due to its very high acidities it is also used to make sparkling wines.

Schilcher tasting

At the top quality level of Riedenwein generalisation is impossible. Each single parcel has its own unique mixture of soils, aspect, elevation and winemaker that decides how to grow the grapes and how to optimally express what the vine has to say and show. These wines are all of very good or outstanding quality and are the a pure expression of site and winemaking ability.

Styria truly is a marvellous place to be, beautiful landscapes and great wines, I don't think a better combo exists.