Wine

Cathal McBride: Austria is ready to claim a place on Europe’s wine map

An impressive selection of bio-dynamic wines and an exciting new sparkling offering are bringing Austria to the attention of wine drinkers

Workers hand-picking grapes during the harvest in the Wachau area of Austria. Picture: Getty

During a recent visit to wine bar L’Atitude 51 in Cork, I was reminded of the often overlooked delights of Austrian wines. Judith Beck, a biodynamic winemaker from Burgenland, is well known for her artistically labelled wines ‘Ink’ and ‘Out’.

But it was a glass of the Blaufränkisch ‘Hunny Bunny’, filled to the brim with bright, fresh and exciting fruit, that tantalised me, stirring up a desire to reacquaint myself further with Austria’s viniculture. It ...