What can we expect from the 2022 vintage in Austria?
With the 2022 vintage, the wine world returns to normality. Falstaff explains what to anticipate from the 2022 vintage of Austrian wines.
A winter with little precipitation was followed in Austria's wine-growing regions by a rather dry spring with changing conditions. This led to a comparatively late budburst, which did not begin until the end of April, which is why there were no serious problems with the dreaded late frosts. Thanks to the warm temperatures, flowering started relatively early, accompanied, however, by already urgently needed rainfall, which also created a bit of fungal pressure.
July and August were accompanied by persistent drought – young plants struggled – but there was no heavy rainfall or major hail incidents. At the end of August, light rainfall brought relief and the grapes were able to ripen quickly. The harvest began a little earlier than the previous year; the main harvest took place between mid-September and the first week of October, and the grapes were very ripe and healthy. Due to the heat, the berries were smaller, which resulted in lower juice yields, but also more concentrated, denser and, in the case of the red wines, darker coloured wines.
Red wine producers in all growing regions are very satisfied with the young wines, which are full-bodied and extract-rich, the tannins are well matured and aromatically appealing. The better the site, the better the final result; the vintage seems to be made for storable red wines of the reserve category.
Analyses of the young Blaufränkisch wines made the winemakers very confident due to the high sugar and optimal pH values; the aromas present themselves as peppery and spicy. The first Styria white wines from 2022 are elegant, with good fruit and some fullness on the palate. It was important here to take advantage of the dry windows during the harvest, which made numerous passes during the harvest necessary. In Lower Austria, the rainfall, which started practically at the beginning of the harvest in mid-September, caused some concern, but fortunately the sun returned in October and the harvest was completed under good conditions. One can expect stronger, complex white wines, but the levels of acidity could not match those of the previous year due to the weather conditions.