An exciting, new flavour always comes from unexpected quarters. In the small wine country of Austria, alternative wine styles such as orange wine and natural wine have become increasingly popular. Will you taste with us?
Text: Marjolein Schuman / Photos: Robert Herbst from pov.at and Manu Grafenauer

Small country, great wines

Let's travel to this beautiful, mountainous country to the right of Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Following tradition, quality wines of all colours are made here by young and old alike. Twenty years ago, the highlight was for an Austrian winemaker to release a premium red blend aged in new French oak barrels. But alternative wine styles, such as orange wine and natural wine, have become increasingly popular.

Natural Wine and Raw Wine

These terms refer to wines produced with as little intervention as possible. And this applies not only in the vineyard, but also in the cellar. Winemakers of natural wine and raw wine prefer not to add yeasts, sulphites or other additives. Because the wine is often unfiltered, you get cloudy, 'live' wines with complex flavours.

What is that smell?

That sometimes takes some getting used to for wine drinkers. Opponents even call some aromas wine faults. The 'natural wine movement' began in France in the 1980s, with pioneers such as Jules Chauvet. The aim was to move from industrial, standardised and commercial to more artisanal production.

Orange wine

Orange wine is not a synonym for natural wine, but a specific production technique. The white grapes stay in contact with the skins for a longer time during fermentation, giving more structure and tannins. Typical of red wine, but with the freshness of white grapes. The technique is ancient, with roots in Georgia, where grape bunches are left underground in earthenware pots for up to nine months.

Why not try it yourself? 5 wine tips

1. Weingut Bauer, Hollötrio Grüner Veltliner Orange 2023 / THEWINESPOT.CO.UK / €13.50

'Our wine doesn't ask, it is,' says Josep Bauer Jr. from Wagram soberly - his wine family's history goes back to 1794. Grapes as pure as possible in the glass and then you taste green apple, citrus, pineapple and melon. Juicy wine with high drinking power.

2. Weingut Kolfok, Querschnitt 2022 Weiss / COLARIS.CO.UK / €22.50

Terroir blend from Burgenland of grüner veltliner with welschriesling, chardonnay and muscat. Unfiltered, yet quite refined. Floral and fruity with apple, lemon balm and blossom. And some spice and minerality (seashell) that suits spring well.

3. Weingut Hannes Sabathi, 'Natural' Gelber Muskateller 2021 / VINETIQ.EU / €21.95

An experimental cuvée by Hannes Sabathi from Südsteiermark. The typical aromas of the Muscat grape are present, but the mouthfeel is not what you expect. The texture is more that of red wine with tannins and a firm backbone. Terroir in the glass, from the 30-million-year-old soil, once covered by the sea.

4. Eschenhof Holzer, The Natural Orange Grüner Veltliner 2022 / WIJNHUIS.AMSTERDAM / litre €14.50

This unfiltered Austrian has aromas of tangerine, orange peel, peach and pepper. The one-litre size is perfect for trying orange wine with each other! With salty appetisers or Asian cuisine.

5. Diwald Zweigelt Vom Löss 2021 / BIOWIJNCLUB.NL / €10.95

Also from the beautiful Wagram region is this natural wine from Martin Diwald. He picks the grapes from a nutritious loess soil and they are fermented with grape-own yeasts. Result? A concentrated wine with lots of black fruit.

Increasingly popular

Although orange wines and natural wines remain niche products, they are gaining popularity. Many young winemakers in Austria, who learned the trade from their parents, are exploring the boundaries of traditional wine production with these styles. And wine drinkers find that they add character to the wine industry. A win-win situation, in other words.

More news on this topic? Read Simon J. Woolf

Simon J. Woolf is the Amsterdam-based expert on the subject, author of, among others, the world-famous book Amber Revolution (2018). He wrote an interesting article with the Austrian Wine Association that you can read in full here can read.

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