A New Age for Wine Region, The Steiermark
by Reuben Oh
@ 12 Jul 2018
On Monday 2 July 2018, representatives of the Regional Wine Committee and Wein Steiermark (Styria) held a historic press conference, one that would herald a new era in the annals of Styrian wine. According to the announcement, the Steiermark will be inaugurating a new system of origins with the 2018 vintage. Corresponding to the three Styrian winegrowing regions, this system will be arranged as Südsteiermark DAC, Vulkanland Steiermark DAC and Weststeiermark DAC.
Individuals in positions of responsibility for the Styrian wine industry have pulled together in recent months, participating in the intensive process involved in creating a unique DAC system for the Steiermark. The result is a three-level pyramid of origin, articulated as Regional Wines, Ortsweine (commune wines or villages wines), and Riedenweine (single vineyard wines). Stefan Potzinger, chairman of Wein Steiermark, is convinced: ‘The new system of origin will indeed do justice to the current general quality standard of Styrian wines. And in equal degree, this will make certain that further improvements in quality will develop even more rapidly in the future’.
This new system of origin will deliberately emphasise the unique nature and signal virtues of Styrian wine. The traditional diversity of grape varieties will be maintained, whereby on the level of Ortswein and Riedenwein, the focus will be placed upon the locally predominant varieties. The timetable for commercial release of wines was set for the first of March or the first of May, in order that the wines receive adequate time to develop the characteristics typical to their origins and display their full potential, especially on the levels of Ortswein and Riedenwein.
The regional wine committee is planning the kickoff for the new system of origin with the 2018 harvest. The final course for the Styrian DAC system will, though, be determined before by the federal ministry, which must sign off on the regulations before enactment.
With the implementation of the DAC system for the Steiermark, the number of DAC winegrowing regions in Austria has now grown to a total of thirteen.Exciting to see what this would do for Austrian wine in the future!
