Mountain country Austria

The vineyards of the Austrian province belong (along with Upper Austria, Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg) to the Bergland wine-growing region. This designation applies to country wines, the quality wines may be marketed under the designation "Weinbaugebiet Kärnten". Winegrowing in Carinthia was first mentioned in 822. It developed around the ecclesiastical monasteries of Millstatt, Ossiach, Gurk, St. Georgen am Längsee, Viktring, Griffen, St. Paul as well as around the bishop's seat of St. Andrä and Wolfsberg. It reached its greatest extent in the 16th century with several hundred hectares. Due to beer developing as a popular drink, warlike turmoil, high taxes, phylloxera and mildew, there was a decline.

At the beginning of the 1990s, a new start was made for viticulture in Carinthia. The association "Vinum Carinthiae", founded in 1993, aims to reintroduce and spread viticulture in Carinthia on a larger scale as a landscape-shaping element to enrich the cultural landscape. The Carinthian Winegrowers' Association was founded in 2003. Soil analyses have shown that quality viticulture is possible throughout Carinthia. The centres of Carinthian viticulture are in the district of St. Veit with Lake Längsee and around Hochosterwitz Castle, in the Lavant Valley, in the area of Feldkirchen and around the city of Klagenfurt such as Seewiese on Lake Wörthersee.

In an EU project launched in 2005, the fruit-growing experimental station in St. Andrä in Lavanttal determined which grape varieties are suitable in Carinthia. In 2022, the vineyards cover 123 hectares, which means a reduction of 47 hectares or 27% compared to 2017 with 170 hectares. They are predominantly planted with the white wine varieties Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc, Traminer and Riesling, the rest with the red wine varieties Zweigelt and Pinot Noir. There are 87 wineries. These include Gartner (St. Andrä), Holzfeind (Kötschach-Mauthen), Janko (St. Paul), Kegley (Karnburg), Prochazka (Feldkirchen), Pulsinger (Wolfsberg), Serschen (Klagenfurt) and Unterkofler (Klagenfurt).

Picture: © ÖWM - Carinthia Winegrowers' Association