Why Austria Is Producing the Most Environmentally Responsible and Authentic Wines in the World

Fightin’ words, but stick with me. Austria has never been and likely never will be as famous, or generally beloved as the “other” grand winemaking giants in Europe, France, and Italy. But in recent years, Austria has been displaying the kind of zest for originality, exploration, and deeply-held principles that feel in desperately short order in so many other wine regions, large and small. 

“In recent years, Austria’s low-intervention wine scene has gained significant international recognition, placing Austrian producers at the heart of this movement,” says Oliver Chramosta, teamlead USA at Austrian Wine. “At the same time, Austria is a frontrunner in environmentally conscious viticulture.”

Austria, writ large, happens to have pursued multiple viticultural paths that align with the contemporary market’s taste and mindset—a phenomenon that can’t be planned, since the zeitgeist is unpredictable and mercurial, and wine-growing and production take a great deal of time and money to change. 

A Brief History + Zeitgeist Candy

Grape seeds were present in the Traisental and village of Stillfried an der March as far back as the Bronze Age, in the 10th and 9th centuries BCE, which means that winemaking in some form dates back thousands of years. 

The systematic cultivation of vines is credited to the Celts and the Illyrians around 700 BCE, but the Romans—as they did—were the ones to really kick off the wine-growing and making revolution that continued and evolved with a few significant stops and starts for 2,000 years. 

Maria Theresia (1740-1780) and her son Joseph II (1780-1790) are credited with inaugurating Austria’s modern wine era, although it wasn’t until the industrialization of wine in the late 20th century led to what is commonly called the “wine scandal” that Austria entered the current era, characterized perhaps most simply as a ‘less is more’ philosophy. 

(For those unfamiliar with the wine scandal, the TL; DR version is that a cyclical decline in prices for wine and a notorious 1985 incident in which Austrian winemakers were found to be illegally adding the toxic substance diethylene glycol to make their wines taste sweeter and more full-bodied. The industry rallied in response, and created the Austrian Wine Marketing Board to bring the industry together, prevent future missteps, and reframe the public narrative about Austrian wine). 

Suffice to say, Austria has managed to burnish its reputation, and is now known as ground zero for crisp and refreshing white wines and chillable reds produced in an environmentally responsible way. (For the first time last year, white wine surged past red wine in terms of U.S. market share, and younger wine lovers are consistently dedicated to supporting brands whose own environmentally progressive values align with their own). 

In the cellar, the emphasis is on allowing the grapes to speak, instead of drowning them out with wood or manipulations. 

The country’s wine regions surround the capital city of Vienna, primarily across the Eastern border. Of the ~44,200 hectares under vine, two-thirds are planted to white varieties such as Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, and Weissburgunder. But reds — including Blaufänkisch and Zweigelt — are also earning serious attention from wine pros, both for the caliber of their juice and their transparent commitment to the environment. Much of this is arguably due to the mom-and-pop framework upon which contemporary viticulture is constructed. 

Austria’s structure of “smaller-scale, family-run, multigenerational wineries plays a big role [in the country’s ability to] farm in an ecologically sensitive way,” says Valerie Kathawala, co-founder, co-publisher, and co-editor-in-chief of Trink Magazine, the only English-language digital publication dedicated to the “German-speaking wines” of Europe. “It’s a tiny country, with less than half the vineyard area of Bordeaux alone! That really favors ideas of caring for what’s yours now and for the future. It helps that many of Austria’s leading producers were early adopters of organic and biodynamic viticulture.”

Chramosta agrees, noting that 7,000 growers manage the 44,200 hectares, making its density of growers much higher than other countries. 

“By contrast, Australia cultivates about 146,000 hectares with only around 2,000 wineries,” Chramosta points out. “This illustrates how close Austrian producers remain to their vineyards, with much of the work carried out directly by families. This family-driven structure allows for meticulous vineyard care, authenticity, and consistency of quality – qualities that consumers increasingly value.”

The Most (Arguably) Eco-Friendly Wine Country

Eco-friendliness, like sustainability, is a slippery concept. Most casual and professional wine folks would define it roughly as respecting the environment, from the way grapes are grown and processed, to the way they are shipped and bottled. For many, this comes down to third-party certifications, so that there is some sort of guarantee and assurance that certain substances are not used in the vineyard and cellar. The most commonly touted certifications are organic and biodynamic. 

International wine figures like Fred Loimer of Weingut Loimer have been advocating for 100% organic farming in Austria, Kathawala points out, noting that Austria’s most lauded estates—including Meinklang, Bernhard Ott, and Weingut Hirsch—have become showplaces for biodynamic agriculture.

This year, Austria declared that 25% of its vineyards are certified organic—a higher concentration than any other country. About 3% of its vineyards are certified biodynamic, which is also an impressive achievement. 

And for winemakers like Johannes Zillinger, it’s part of the fabric of his life.

“All of my land and vineyards have been farmed for 42 years,” Zillinger says. “My parents, Hans and Christine Zillinger, were among the first organic farms in Austria. Since 2012, I have also been managing the winery biodynamically.”

Zillinger’s philosophy, like that of his parents, goes well beyond opting to put this instead of that in the wine or onto the land. 

“Almost half of my vineyards are grazed by pigs and sheep year-round,” he says. “I have long searched for robust animal breeds that can be easily kept in the vineyard year-round and that do not harm the vines but support us in our work. I have the idea of ​​a circular economy, as far as possible. This means that almost all of the herbs we need for teas, extracts, and biodynamic preparations are cultivated in our own vineyards.”

Johannes Trapl, the founder and winemaker at Weingut Johannes Trapl, agrees that great wine must begin with hands-off, chemical-free farming.

“Everything begins with organic and biodynamic work in the vineyards,” Trapl says. “Organic isn’t enough anymore. When I started, only a few additions were permitted. But now, they’re allowing enzymes, commercial yeast, fining agents and additives. What does it even mean? We must go beyond.”

The Most (Arguably) Authentic

For Trapl, going “beyond” means, in many ways, doing close to nothing. “Our way means letting the flavors of the grapes come out,” Trapl says. “If you use conventional yeast and additions, you’re masking those flavors. Our wines are naked. You drink a glass, and the vineyard speaks.”

Like Zillinger, Trapl uses sheep in the vineyards to do the work of mowing machines. 

“It allows for the flavors and juices of the grapes to express themselves,” he says, adding that by spraying the vines with batches of biodynamic teas made with materials plucked from the farm, he’s been able to reduce sprays of copper and copper sulfate by 75%. “Then we let the grapes ferment and age in amphora, qvevri, concrete. This creates incredible texture, and again, lets the grapes speak. They are broadly classified as natural wines, but to me, they’re wine.”

Wine in Austria is farmed and made, seemingly, within a much smaller framework—and a longer, possibly eternal, timeline—than most other wines in other places. It is a business, but really, it’s a life. 

“I’m working on a generational project here,” Zillinger says. “The otherwise typical structural change that occurred in the rest of the Weinviertel region, where all the old vineyards were cleared and almost exclusively Grüner Veltliner was planted, didn’t happen here at our farm. That’s why I’m fortunate enough to work on many old vineyards (the oldest dating back to 1922). But also around 20 different grape varieties.”

Austrian wine isn’t for everyone. But for those who love it, it’s more than something to drink. It’s part of the broader landscape of life, style, and carefully curated choices more and more of us are working hard to cultivate.