Austrian wines are mostly dry white wines, though some sweeter white wines are also produced. About 30% of the wines are red, made from Blaufränkisch, Pinot noir and locally bred varieties such as Zweigelt. Four thousand years of winemaking history counted for little after the "antifreeze scandal" of 1985, when it was revealed that some wine brokers had been adulterating their wines with diethylene glycol. The scandal destroyed the market for Austrian wine and compelled Austria to tackle low standards of bulk wine production, and reposition itself as a producer of quality wines. The country is also home to Riedel, makers of some of the most expensive wine glasses in the world. Some of the best producers of Austria include Weingut Bründlmayer, Weingut F.X. Pichler and Weingut Franz Hirtzberger, Weingut Hutter, Weingut Eigl and Wellanschitz.
An Austrian wine made from Grüner Veltliner, by far the most grown variety in Austria.
The Austrian wine seal is used on all wines at Qualitätswein level
The Smaragd (emerald) Lizard, Lacerta viridis, which gives its name to the highest level of the Wachau wine classification.
Grüner Veltliner German: [ˈɡʁyːnɐ fɛltˈliːnɐ] ) is a white wine grape variety grown primarily in Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. The leaves of the grape vine are five-lobed with bunches that are long but compact, and deep green grapes that ripen in mid-late October in the Northern Hemisphere.
Grüner Veltliner
Through Savagnin, Grüner Veltliner is either a grandchild or a half-sibling of Pinot noir (pictured).
Grüner Veltliner being hand harvested at Hahndorf Hill vineyard in the Adelaide Hills
Grüner Veltliner planted in the vineyards along the Danube in Wachau