Glossary

Cru is the French term for the single vineyard or classed growth.

The grapes are usually crushed after destemming, to ease the flow of juice.

This is the process of mechanically freezing healthy grape material by refrigeration, in order to produce (a form of) ice wine.

The French term that describes the blending of wines (French for enclosed vat or barrel), and the wine blended can be from different varieties, vineyards or vintages.

DAC stands for Districtus Austriae Controllatus. It literally means protected Austrian declaration of origin. The DAC is a designation for regionally typical Austrian quality wines, where the region itself, rather than the variety, is more significant. There are currently 13 DAC-designated regions acknowledged by the Ministry of Agriculture.

The Weinviertel started off run of DAC-regions in 2003 with its regionally typical Grüner Veltliner. It has been followed by Mittelburgenland DAC (Blaufränkisch), Traisental DAC (Grüner Veltliner and Riesling), Kremstal DAC (Grüner Veltliner and Riesling), Kamptal DAC (Grüner Veltliner and Riesling), Leithaberg DAC (white and red), as well as Eisenberg DAC (Blaufränkisch), Neusiedlersee DAC (Zweigelt) and Wiener Gemischter Satz DAC, Rosalia DAC (Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt) as well as Vulkanland Steiermark DAC, Südsteiermark DAC and Weststeiermark DAC (Welschriesling, Pinot Blanc, Morillon, Grauburgunder, Riesling, Gelber Muskateller, Sauvignon Blanc, Traminer as well as cuvées from them, Blauer Wildbacher (as Schilcher) only in Weststeiermark).

Wine is decanted into a carafe.

Declaration of geographical origin of a wine or grapes, from which a wine is produced. The EU differentiates between wines without geographical indication (Wein), wines with Protected Geographical Indication (Landwein) and wine with Protected Designation of Origin (Qualitätswein). In Austria, wines with PDO that display characteristics of their origin, are entrenched in the DAC philosophy.

A sensory term for a complex wine with persistence in aroma and taste.

Tasting description for the colour of white wine, and refers to very mature or old wine, or wines that are susceptible to oxidation. Old wines can also have this colour as a result of too little sulphur.