Vintage 2022 put Austrian winegrowers through their paces

Published Mar 6, 2023

Tridge summary

The Austrian Wine Marketing Board has released a report on the 2022 vintage, which faced unusual weather conditions that posed challenges for winemakers. The season started with a mild winter and delayed budding, followed by a dry spell and heavy rainfall during the blossoming period, which increased the risk of fungal diseases. Later in the summer, extreme dryness affected the vines, particularly young ones and those in nutrient-poor soils. However, timely rainfall in September aided in ripening and resulted in sugar levels similar to the 2019 vintage. Despite the weather's unpredictability, which led to most grape varieties ripening simultaneously, the harvest was completed efficiently in many areas, with Riesling grapes allowed to ripen longer, resulting in lower yields.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

The Austrian Wine Marketing Board has released its assessment of last year's vintage, highlighting the “unusual weather conditions that certainly put Austrian winemakers through their paces.” The report states that despite a mild winter with very little precipitation, budding did not occur until the end of April, which is relatively late. Then, after a long spell of dry weather, the vines blossomed relatively early, brought out by the warmth. In most regions throughout Austria, however, this was accompanied by heavy rainfall. “Vintners in these wine-growing regions had their hands full, trying to keep the threat of fungal diseases, especially Peronospora, at bay. Coulure, which occurred in certain regions, also had a natural thinning effect on the clusters,” said a representative from the Marketing Board. However, like most of western Europe, Austria enjoyed a very torrid summer in 2022. According to the report, the vines had to cope with “extreme dryness – the likes of which had ...

Source: Harpers