1. Home
2. News

Lower harvest volume forecast for Austria

At a press conference in Vienna, president of the Austrian Winegrowers’ Association Johannes Schmuckenschlager addressed the very early start to this year’s harvest, with volumes set to total around 2mhl once work in the vineyards is complete (around 15% lower than 2023).

• Read more: González Byass UK adds Famiglia Castellani to wine portfolio

Last year’s harvest was already on the slim side. Volumes of wine produced totalled 2.33mhl, while the annual average for the period between 2019 and 2023 sat at 2.41mhl.

“In terms of volume, we are expecting to harvest less than last year and also compared to the average from previous years. In many vineyards, the clusters were less well formed this year, and late frosts and coulure during blossoming have also reduced the volume,” Schmuckenschlager explained.

Temperamental weather conditions during 2024 were the reason for this year’s exceptionally early harvest, the association said. In contrast to last year, there was sufficient precipitation during the winter, but from January on, the winter months were too warm for the time of year.

A warm start to spring and temperatures close to those usually associated with summer at the start of April resulted in very early budding – three weeks earlier than the long-term average.

“Early budding always entails a risk of damage due to late frosts, which can occur right up until around the middle of May. And indeed, in the second half of April, there were multiple late frosts throughout the whole of Austria,” Schmuckenschlager said.

While in most parts of Austria, only a few low-lying or young vineyards suffered localised frost damage, parts of the Thermenregion, the Kamptal and the Wachau region were more seriously affected.

In many places, blossoming started in the last week of May, coming to an end in the first two weeks of June. However, the rain that fell during this time meant that blossoming was delayed in some regions and also resulted in coulure damage in some cases. Keeping the vines healthy required special attention – and this need for extra care continued into mid-June when the first hot spell struck, rising to temperatures of over 30 °C.

The hot weather continued in July and August, when ripening commenced very early and advanced rapidly. As a result, particularly dense, ripe red wines are expected, with producers set to make up the grape shortfall with reserve wines.

“Once again, the winemakers have done their best to ensure healthy grapes. The advanced ripening as a result of the weather conditions means that such an early harvest is necessary in order to achieve a harmonious sugar-to-acid ratio,” explained Schmuckenschlager.

“We can look forward to a mature, harmonious vintage that may well be a bit denser in some cases, which will particularly favour the red wine grapes. As a result of the small berry size and the very dark, concentrated grapes, we can expect dense, fully ripe red wines.”

• harvest
• Austria