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Austrian wines win big in international competitions

17 August 2022 By Louis Thomas

Austrian producers have continued to receive international praise in competitions, with a number of wines from across the country entered into db‘s Global Masters winning medals.

The Global Masters determines the best wines from across the world by grape variety. The panel tastes each wine submitted and assesses whether they meet the criteria for a medal, or, for those truly exceptional examples, the coveted title of ‘Master’.

Of the 51 wines entered by Austria, 10 received gold medals and two were awarded the rank of Master. The wines singled out for that title were the 2019 Weingut Schauer Ried Gasriegl Riesling and the 2020 Weingut Johann Schneeberger Ried Hochbrudersegg Sauvignon Blanc, both from Südsteiermark DAC, in the south of the country.

The former was described by Patricia Stefanowicz MW as: “dry and mid-weight with a good concentration of yellow and green fruits supported by lively acidity. Accents of lemon grass and white flowers add interest.”

As for the latter, Stefanowicz said: “The shale, green schist and quartzite soils give distinct minerality to this young, exciting wine.”

Producers to have received gold medals include Ott Bernhard in Kamptal DAC and Stift Klosterneuberg in Niederösterreich, both for their respective Grüner Veltliners – being praised as high quality examples of the country’s most widely-grown grape variety.

However, Austria is not just celebrated for its white wines. Last month, db reported on how Austria’s most popular red variety, Zweigelt, is also the subject of growing attention abroad due to its versatility when it comes to food pairings.

To read more about which other competitions Austrian wines have enjoyed recent success in, click here.

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