2023 Wachau and Lower Austria: Mercurial Weather Gods Smiled in the End

BY ANNE KREBIEHL MW | JULY 18, 2024

In 2023, all the signs pointed to a long growing season with a late harvest, but rains after a hot summer with record temperatures sped everything up. These August rains provided some relief from dry stress but also turned into devastating hailstorms in places. Coolish and sunny weather allowed hail-damaged grapes to dry, preventing what could have been a complete rot-fest. Benevolence lasted, and gloriously sunny, settled harvest weather, described as “traumhaft,” or dreamlike, allowed a wide spectrum of stylistic expression – and really ripe grapes. Notwithstanding some hail damage, what winemakers mentioned most was the stunning beauty of the fruit at harvest. Few had seen such perfection. This resulted in exquisitely expressive wines with crunch and fruit in equal measure.

Grüner Veltliner vines on the alluvial flatlands close to the Danube in the Wachau.

2023 – A Record Year

Austria’s Climate Status Report (Climate Change Centre Austria in collaboration with BOKU Vienna and Geosphere Austria, Vienna 2024) notes that 2023, together with 2018, was the hottest average year since records began in 1768, noting that in “lower lying areas and the east of the country, it largely was the hottest year.” Readers must note that “lower lying” in this Alpine country does refer to the wine regions. Horvath at Domäne Wachau made an interesting observation: “In terms of climate change, 2023 was a record year,” he said but noted that in comparison to 20 years ago in 2003, the first unprecedently hot vintage of this century, growers are now much better equipped to deal with the situation. Work has gone into building water retention in the soil with “healthier, more distributed root systems,” and both soil and canopy management are now “many steps ahead of where we were then.” Constant adaptation and constant calibration in the vineyard are key.

The other chief observation of the Climate Status Report is the increased incidence of extreme weather events – like heavy downpours and hail. This continues apace. On the evening of 3 June 2024, I was almost caught in a mudslide in the village of Senftenberg in Kremstal; so heavy and extreme was the sudden downpour on already sodden soils. Several villages sounded sirens, calling the local volunteer fire brigades to take action and pump out flooded cellars. Life is definitely not getting easier for farmers.

The skies may have been moody, but Christina Wess and husband David Juen-Wess were full of smiles during our outdoor tasting in the Krems vineyards.

The Lay of the Land

This report covers the regions of Wachau, Kremstal, Kamptal, Traisental, Wagram and Weinviertel, all part of Lower Austria, as well as the wines of Vienna. The other two regions of Lower Austria, i.e., Carnuntum and Thermenregion, will be covered later in the year alongside Burgenland, as red wines dominate. Wachau (1,296ha), Kremstal (2,267ha) and Kamptal (3,583ha) are three compact regions west of Vienna. The Wachau is the westernmost of the Lower Austria regions, stretching along both banks of the Danube from Mautern, just over an hour west of Vienna, to the Spitzer Graben in the west. There is a marked temperature difference along the region, with the vineyards tucked away in the Spitzer Graben, a lateral valley that is almost marginal, with sites gradually getting warmer towards Mautern. Moving east towards Vienna, Kremstal borders the Wachau and runs along the river Krems, a tributary to the Danube. Again, there is a temperature difference between the narrow, mountainous Krems Valley at Senftenberg and the far more open and warmer vineyards that face the Danube at Krems and Stein and on the right bank of the Danube. Kamptal runs along the river Kamp and borders Kremstal to the west and Weinviertel to the north and east. Kamptal vineyards do not touch the Danube at all but boast many south-facing slopes surrounding the town of Langenlois. Traisental (855ha) extends along the river Traisen south of the Danube but is cooler; Wagram (2,450ha) is a vast bank of loess between these regions and Vienna. The Weinviertel (13,841ha) is a large region stretching north and east of Vienna to the borders of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Despite the significant hectarage, Weinvertel vineyards are dispersed across a vast area, and many parts of the region have no vineyards at all. Vienna (582ha) is counted separately and is not only Europe’s but the world’s only state capital with a sizeable and centuries-old wine industry within its city limits.

As I started covering Austria in 2023, my visits were all squeezed into the month of November, when the above white wine regions of Lower Austria and Vienna should have been covered earlier in the year, with most producers happy to show off the wines from the previous harvest, chiefly Grüner Veltliner and Riesling, of course. For 2023, there is a new tasting rhythm for Lower Austria & Vienna in the spring and Burgenland, Carnuntum and Thermenregion, where red wines dominate, in the fall. This explains why some wineries have not yet shown their 2023 wines, which will be reviewed next year. The estates I visited count amongst the best in Austria, a country with little corporate involvement. Most estates are still family-owned. The industry is less fragmented than it was, but 6,000 producers farm Austria’s 44,537 hectares, resulting in an average estate size of just 7.42 hectares – this goes a long way to explaining the relatively high quality of Austrian wines even at the entry level.

Mathias Hirtzberger of Weinhofmeisterei Hirtzberger opening his wines with the majestic Danube in the background.

Wachau – Heat and a Happy End

While winter 2022/2023 was too mild for many people’s liking, spring 2023 was slow to arrive. So slow that everyone escaped spring frosts in early April. However, apricots, the other famous crop of the Wachau, took the full hit of this. Vines did not burst their buds until later in April. Lucas Pichler of Weingut FX Pichler remembers 2023 as a “cool, rainy spring with sufficient rain up until flowering.” Katharina Alzinger of Weingut Alzinger recalls that 2023 was slow to start, with a three-week delay to vegetation in the spring, initially giving the impression that it would be a later harvest. But an “extremely warm summer” put paid to that. Both Emmerich Knoll of the eponymous estate and Roman Horvath of Domäne Wachau noted “record temperatures.” In fact, Domäne Wachau’s annual harvest report for 2023 is titled “Hitze, Hagel und ein Happy End”, i.e., heat, hail and a happy end. Flowering in June was fine, but July and August followed with real heat. Knoll spoke of the late August storms, which brought some hail but also rain, as a relief. “This had a really positive effect, especially in the lower sites with no irrigation like those at the foot of the mountains,” he said. Mathias Hirtzberger recalled that “as of mid-August, a sort of Second Summer kicked in. It was no longer hot, and there was enough moisture. This, however, meant that ripeness advanced quickly.” Dr Herwig Jamek of Weingut Jamek also emphasized that the rain in late August sped up ripening: “Suddenly, within a week, everything was ripe,” he said. At Jamek, potential alcohol levels of 12.5 and beyond meant that no Steinfeder and only some Grüner Veltliner Federspiel categories were harvested, but while the labels may not carry the Federspiel designation, the resulting wines themselves are delicious, sitting stylistically between Federspiel and Smaragd.

Emmerich Knoll with a very fancy wine thief, showing barrels samples of the 2023 vintage.

Missing Categories

Hail damage was the reason for the lack of 2023 Riesling Federpiels at the Rudi Pichler estate in Wösendorf. Both his highest- and lowest-lying Riesling parcels were hit. “We decided to sort them all out completely and painstakingly,” he said. “This was only possible by recruiting many more pickers.” Thankfully, the weather after the storm remained dry, so damaged grapes dried out rather than rotted. Knowing that other regions were hit more severely, nobody complained about hail damage from a storm on 26 August, with many noting they felt “they got away with a black eye,” a German way of saying they escaped relatively unscathed.

The Longest Harvest Window

Franz-Josef Gritsch observed how long 2023’s harvest window was – stretching into November for those west of the Wachau in Spitz and the Spitzer Graben. While there usually is a two- to three-week difference in ripening between the cool west and the warmer east, in 2023, this was even more pronounced. But harvest conditions are only part of this – stylistic decisions come into play. Gritsch said “the beautiful weather throughout October” allowed him to “harvest physiologically ripe grapes at alcohol levels that were not too high, without any botrytis, without overripeness.” He finished harvesting on 15 November and tested the possibilities of his ripe, rounded, generous style to the full. This is illustrated in two very different wines from the same site: Gritsch harvested his Riesling from Ried Kalkofen in the cool Spitzer Graben on 9 November, his colleagues from the Grabenwerkstatt picked theirs in the first week of October – both are stellar wines but at opposite ends of the stylistic spectrum – one of the many reasons while tasting here is so fascinating, as both wines show the Kalkofen site.

Maria and Josef Mayer of the Geyerhof Estate in Kremstal in the remodeled stables, which now serve as an exhibition space.

Those who harvested earlier, like Alzinger in the second half of September, when days were still hot, started picking at first light, finishing at 11:30 in the morning so grapes would not arrive at the winery too hot. Knoll, in Loiben, recalled that there was no botrytis but “crunchy, healthy fruit with concentration; no shriveling and a touch less acidity than in the previous years.” Speaking from further west in Spitz, Franz Hirtzberger of Weingut Hirtzberger noted acid levels of the Gruner Veltliners around 6g/L – which is above average, while the Rieslings still clocked up around a more normal 7g/L – despite a November harvest. While the warmer east and center of the Wachau were compelled to harvest due to advancing ripeness levels, the cooler west could take its own sweet time. Both lovers of Grüner Veltliner and Riesling will find much to please them in 2023 – no matter where across that stylistic spectrum they look. The tauter styles are as linear as ever, perhaps with a riper fruit flavor profile. The rounder, riper styles are in a sweet spot in 2023.

Kremstal, Kamptal, Wagram, Traisental – Bullseye

One winemaker noted that 2023 hit the bullseye in terms of ripeness – and he and his colleagues still smiled as they remembered. Bert Salomon of Salomon Undhof in Krems remembered the “wonderful and dreamlike weather” during the 2023 harvest, which lasted a mere eight weeks rather than the usual nine or ten, while Maria Maier at the Geyerhof, also in Kremstal, described 2023 as “super.” Her judgment is based on sufficient water availability, manageable disease pressure and a late harvest spanning October and November. Bernhard Ott in Feuersbrunn in Wagram was similarly pleased with the year’s progress: “Spring was cool and meant late flowering. Water availability was ideal, and we started our harvest later than in really hot years. There was no dry stress, and we had all the time in the world for skin contact.” All this happened contrary to expectations. “Had you asked me in late August, I would still have told you that 2023 would be a rather late harvest,” said Markus Huber of the eponymous estate in Traisental. “But September made all the difference. It was dry throughout harvest, and there was no botrytis or disease pressure.” Michael Malat of Weingut Malat in Palt, Kremstal, said: “I thought this was going to be a more relaxed year,” he said, “but September stayed warm and became warmer, which meant things went quickly. We had lovely weather in September and great harvest conditions. Ripeness increased rapidly, and we had to capture that.”

Schloss Gobelsburg in full splendor, under blue skies.

Hail and Cherubim

Had it not been for a devastating hailstorm on 13 September, the memories in Kamptal would have been the same. Fred Loimer in Langenlois, who lost half of his Riesling from the Steinmassl site, set the mood: “The vineyards looked like picture books in early September. The one minus was a little dry stress in July. The first ten days of August were still cool; even then, it still looked like a later harvest. Then the weather turned so beautiful, and ripeness set in and raced ahead in a hellish tempo.” Johannes Hirsch in Kammern echoes this: “Four days before the planned harvest, we had the cleanest, most perfect grape material.” Then the hail hit. “The strip went from Gneixendorf via Langenlois into the Weinviertel and strafed Heiligenstein and Gaisberg,” said Michael Moosbrugger of Schloss Gobelsburg. “It was sheer luck that it was warm and dry afterward, meaning the damaged grapes dried out rather than rotted, but still had to be selected carefully,” Michael Moosbrugger said, leading to 20-25% loss in the affected sites. Alwin Jurtschitsch in Langenlois said: “The hail lasted for 40 minutes, and this was a moment where your breath stopped.” Jurtschitsch’s sites on the Loiser Berg were hit substantially, but Lamm sustained little damage, while only the eastern flank of Heiligenstein was hit. He said: “The day after, the sun was back, and the hail-damaged grapes dried out. Had there been more rain, this would have been very ugly.” But he still considered himself lucky: “The worst hail went down towards Lengenfeld in the Kremstal,” he said, “so all in all, while it was bitter, others were far worse off. The crazy thing is that the old farmers always said that there would be no hail after August; such September hail had not happened in living memory.” At Bründlmayer, Thomas Klinger reported that “despite hail nets, parts of Lamm were affected and a marginal part of Käferberg.” Their parcels on the Heiligenstein escaped. Klinger reported some “emergency harvesting” on the following day, noting that the vineyard manager had “tears in his eyes” surveying the damage. Still, he also remembered that before the storm, “the grapes looked like cherubim, with a divine middle. Before the storm, it was all perfect.” Ultimately, the estate lost 10-15% of yield to hail damage.

Vienna & Weinviertel

Vienna has a similar tale: “Fritz Wieninger reported “very late budburst in late May, flowering in mid-June” and virtually no transition from winter to summer. “We had great weather until July when it became rather dry. Towards August, the weather relaxed and cooled, which also meant relief from dry stress,” he said. But then hail struck: “There were just a few areas on the Bisamberg that were not affected, but vineyards in Nussberg, Grinzing and all the way to Neustift were. We have never had such extensive hail before, not in my lifetime or that of my father,” he recalled. Like in Wachau and Kamptal, the dry weather following the hail saved the harvest. Wieninger noted that despite yield losses of 15-20% across his estate, the brilliant September weather made all the difference to what otherwise could have been a rather mediocre vintage. Echoing other regions and winemakers in Lower Austria, Rainer Christ remembers, despite poor fruit set that cost some yield, as harvest came, “one berry was more beautiful than the other.” For him, the hailstorm in August “was a near-miss, it only strafed the weather side lightly – and everyone was very nervous. Thank heavens the weather was so stable that the affected berries dried out and there was no further damage,” he said. “But we were nervous for about 10-14 days.” The wines are beautifully balanced in Vienna, showing crunch, aroma and freshness.

Marion Ebner-Ebenauer showing her 2023 whites in the light-flooded living room.

Further north, in the Weinviertel, Marion Ebner-Ebenauer of the eponymous estate in Poysdorf said that 2023 gave sufficient water and lots of sunshine to the northern Weinviertel. She noted that lack of water stress was a great boon for thirsty Grüner, as she cannot irrigate. She terms 2023 warm rather than hot and noted that early morning harvests and waiting for cooler nights helped to preserve acidity. An hour further southwest in Breitenwaida, Ingrid Groiss also noted that “there was not a drop of rain throughout harvest, all was healthy, all was ripe,” adding that “every grape was a picture.” She noted that she was happy with her timely harvest, suggesting that she feared there were some “boring wines” in the Weinviertel in 2023 – namely from those who waited too long and lost tension due to overripeness. No such attributes were found in the wines I tasted – on the contrary – they were bright and savory with beautiful notions of the Weinviertel Pfefferl, the tell-tale white pepper notion of this region.

Overall, Lower Austria and Vienna delivered exquisitely clean wines with vivid fruit expression and welcome crunch and contour. If recent comparisons serve, 2023 tops 2022 but does not quite reach the level of 2021 in all respects – even though some wines totally get there. I find it hard to say whether Grüner or Riesling was the winner –they are neck and neck. The wines were tasted during estate visits in Late May and early June 2024, with just six wines in London.

© 2024, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or re-distributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright, but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.

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