Global notes

Jane Parkinson selects some highlight German and Austrian reds

Germany and Austria are among the many countries adapting their approach to growing and making wine due to changing climatic conditions.

Jane Parkinson looks at the ever-improving red wines from these two countries. DESPITE WRESTLING with the causes and consequences of climate change, certain corners of the wine industry have nonetheless benefited from the warming of the planet, especially those northern European countries whose graperipening possibilities are improving with every year that passes. Combine climate change with later picking and improved viticulture, and a new style of European red emerges: one that’s fruitier and heartier, with significantly more presence in the glass.

Take Germany, for example. This is a country that has never produced so much red wine in its life – in particular, spätburgunder (pinot noir), which is the country’s most important red grape by some distance. In fact, the Germans make so much spätburgunder it is now the world’s third-largest pinot noir producing country.

It’s not easy to generalise about German spätburgunder styles because the modern scene is relatively embryonic and much of the good stuff is consumed domestically. Even so, they are typically lighter in style than pinot noirs from elsewhere in the world, mostly due to the climate. This is why the grape especially thrives in the more southerly region of Baden, although more than half of the Ahr’s vineyards are planted with spätburgunder too.

Germany’s neighbour Austria has also upped its red wine game in recent years, with a bunch of forward-thinking innovative winemakers at the helm. They are helping cement their modern red credentials following a broken reputation in the mid-’80s thanks to that anti-freeze scandal (when several producers illegally added a key ingredient of anti-freeze to their dessertstyle wines to enhance sweetness and body). At the time, Austrian wine was understandably in dire straights, so a quality control system was hastily put in place to ensure the future was about quality, not quantity. From the ashes rose gruner veltliner – the best white that Austria has to offer – and for red wines there’s a trio to celebrate and try, namely blaufrankisch, St Laurent and zweigelt.

Of these, blaufrankisch is easily the leader of the pack, although it can’t really claim an Austrian passport because it’s found all over Eastern Europe, most famously as kéfrankos in Greece.

But Austria seems to bring the best out of it, making a style that’s extremely versatile given its success as a pink or red wine, as well as a fresh, youthful fruit-fest or a richer smoke-fest; there are many faces of blaufrankisch to be had. That said, they all have two characters in common – bright acidity and firm tannins. St Laurent is a more alluring and funky variety that’s a descendant of pinot noir, but possesses richer, darker flavours. Like pinot, it can be tricky to grow and tends to sulk in the vineyard, but when made well it has a sensual decadence to it with a flicker of spice.

And finally, there’s the immensely gluggable, fruity and walletfriendly zweigelt, which is actually a cross of St Laurent with blaufränkisch. Zweigelt brings a smile-to-your-face cherry fruitiness to the table, although some producers make a more serious version too.

Despite being more than regrettable that climate change has assisted northern Europe’s red wine cause, whether they’re perky, hearty or somewhere in between, no one can deny that Germany and Austria have found their red wine mojo.