Austria
Definition - What does Austria mean?
Renowned for excellent, dry white wine, the Austrian wine region is one of the more respected and popular wine regions of the world. The region is famous for its dry white wines, the most famous being the Grüner Veltliner, however, some rich and aromatic red wines are also produced in the region.
WineFrog explains Austria
Most of the wine in Austria is produced in the eastern part of the country. The chief focus is on the Grüner Veltliner and other varieties of white wine. However, some central and southern areas of this region also produce oak-matured red wines.
The Austrian wine industry faced scrutiny during the 1985 anti-freeze scandal, and it helped elevate the standards of Austrian wine through stricter regulations and production processes.The anti-freeze scandal of 1985 uncovered wine vendors that were adding diethylene glycol (a compound most commonly found in antifreeze) to cheap quality wines to improve taste and therefore sales. The scandal led to Austrian wine being banned in some countries and shunned in most. After adopting stricter regulations to address the scandal, Austria is now one of the foremost producers of high quality wine in the world.
