Red Wines of Austria

Thinking about Austrian wines, it's probably white wines that most people are familiar with, especially Gruner Veltliner and Riesling. This is not a surprise since Austria wasn't really making red wine until the mid-1980s when, thanks to new legislation and new quality, they learned about maceration times, malolactic fermentation times and barrels. While international varieties were planted, the Austrians also found great results with indigenous varieties. Since then red wine production has more than doubled and now makes up 1/3 of the wine production in Austria. A recent wine seminar in Los Angeles was an introduction to the red grapes of Austria, focusing on four of the main red varietals.