The federal state of Burgenland with its capital Eisenstadt is located in the very east of Austria. It borders Slovakia to the north, Hungary to the east, Slovenia for a few kilometres to the south and the two federal states of Lower Austria and Styria to the west. Viticulture has been of great importance here for 2,500 years, which the historian Johannes Aventinus (1477-1534) emphasised with the saying "Extra Pannoniam non es vita; si est vita, non est ita" (You can't live outside Pannonia; if you can live, then not like here). Alongside Stillfried in the Weinviertel, Zagersdorf is one of the oldest wine-growing communities in Austria, as grape seeds of the cultivated vine Vitis vinifera were discovered in a Celtic burial mound from the Hallstatt period around 700 BC.

History

In the 1st century BC, the Romans advanced as far as the Danube and founded the province of Pannonia (historical landscape in western Hungary, which also included today's Burgenland, which only became part of Austria in 1920). A new wine culture emerged when Emperor Marcus Aurelius Probus (232-282) lifted the ban on planting vines. At this time, Roman legionaries were entitled to three measures of wine per head per day. In 433 AD, the Hun king Attila conquered Pannonia. The turmoil of the migration of peoples had a negative impact on viticulture. Emperor Charlemagne (742-814) initiated a reconstruction. Noble Franconian varieties were introduced and wine from the Emperor's own vineyards was allowed to be served in wine taverns.

The Cistercians deserve the greatest credit for draining and clearing the swampy and wooded area. In 1216, they were already cultivating 99 vineyards in Heiligenkreuz (Lower Austria). From here, they began to plant more vineyards around Lake Neusiedl, around Marienberg Monastery (near Oberpullendorf) and around St Gotthard. By the 16th century, the vineyards had reached their greatest extent and viticulture had become the most important source of income. The Hungarian Queen Maria (1505-1558) granted great privileges. She granted the wine villages of Rust, Jois and Neusiedl am See the right to label their wine barrels with the initial letters "R", "G" (for Geusz) and "N". The famous Ruster Ausbruch was created at this time and equated with Tokaj.

Viticulture in the modern era

Burgenland was particularly affected by the many Turkish invasions in the 16th and 17th centuries. Despite all the turmoil of war, epidemics, bad weather and other misfortunes, the period from the 16th to the 18th century was the absolute heyday of Burgenland viticulture, with mainly white wines being produced at this time. Large quantities were delivered to the imperial court cellar in Vienna and the particularly popular Rust wine was given the honourable title "Vinum imperatorum - imperator vinorum". At that time, there were four quality classes in Burgenland: Vinum Nobile (noble wine, dried berries of the Furmint grape variety), Vinum Bonum (quality wine made from the Furmint, Weißer Augster, Blauer Augster and Muskateller varieties), Vinum Mediocre (medium quality) and Vinum Cibale (table wine).

In 1622, Count Nikolaus Esterházy (1583-1645) received the dominions of Forchtenstein and Eisenstadt as a fief from Emperor Ferdinand II (1578-1637). The noble family promoted viticulture and the wine trade and became the largest landowner in Austria. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Golden Age was over. Due to the Napoleonic Wars and failed harvests, large areas of vineyards were abandoned and converted into farmland. In the second half of the 19th century, phylloxera also struck here. Paul Vetter from Gols was instrumental in combating it.

Climate & soils

The region is characterised by a Pannonian-continental climate, the regulating influence of the 230 km² Lake Neusiedl and relatively long growing seasons of up to 250 days. Due to the climatic conditions, Burgenland is ideally suited for viticulture and is considered the red wine region of Austria. The climate and soils in the individual wine-growing regions are very different and favour certain grape varieties and wine types. The heavy clay soils in the Mittelburgenland are particularly suitable for red wines, the limestone and slate soils in the Leitha Mountains for white wines and the Seewinkel for sweet wines due to the high humidity.

Wine-growing regions

Together with Lower Austria and Vienna, Burgenland forms the wine-growing region of Weinland, which serves as a designation of origin for regional wines. It used to be divided into four wine-growing regions. In 2016, an extensive reorganisation took place with changes to the boundaries of the wine-growing regions. Only two of them are congruent. The political district of Mattersburg forms the newly created fifth area, Rosalia.

The two large vineyards Pinkatal and Geschriebenstein were replaced by Großlage Südburgenland. For the Freistadt Rust there is the new sixth DAC area with the special wine type Ruster Ausbruch. The generic Burgenland wine-growing region must appear on the label of all quality wines; DAC wines must also bear the DAC designation. The wine-growing regions with the development of the vineyards:

• Eisenberg - congruent with former Südburgenland
• Leithaberg - formerly Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, changed boundaries
• Mittelburgenland - identical in name and congruence
• Neusiedlersee - same name, changed borders
• Rosalia (district of Mattersburg - new as of 2016
• Ruster Ausbruch (municipality of Rust, Leithaberg) - new from 2016, the vineyards are included in Leithaberg

Grape variety index

In 2022, the vineyards covered a total of 11,772 hectares of vines. Compared to 2017 with 13,100 hectares, this was a reduction of 1,327 hectares (10.1%). White wine varieties account for 5,044 hectares (43%) and red wine varieties for 6,728 hectares (57%). The red wine varieties Blaufränkisch and Zweigelt are in the lead (41%):

Producers

Well-known Burgenland winegrowers' co-operatives and winegrowers' associations are Eichenwald Weine, Pannobile, Pannonischer Reigen, Renommierte Weingüter Burgenland (RWB), Weinidylle Südburgenland and Winzerkeller Neckenmarkt. The best-known wineries are listed under the individual wine-growing regions.

Map: © ÖWM