Drought has led to considerably reduced yields in the Austrian harvest, with 1.7 million hectolitres expected this year.

According to the Austrian Wine Marketing Board, premature budding, early flowering and high temperatures significantly accelerated grape ripening.

Like many other countries in Europe, this resulted in earlier harvesting and lower yields.

Austrian Wine commented that the volume is expected to be around 30% lower than the previous year’s harvest and below the average in recent years.

Johannes Schmuckenschlager, president of Austria’s Winegrowers Association, said: “The extreme drought conditions have clearly left their mark. Many of the berries are very small and this also brings with it a lower must yield.”

Despite the small volume, however, Schmuckenschlager noted that the smaller berries remained consistently healthy.

“Small berries mean less juice, but a higher concentration of valuable compounds. That’s why we’re expecting particularly aromatic and expressive wines,” he continued.

On his expectations for the season, the president said that he was particularly optimistic about the prospects for red wines. “The small, darkly coloured and concentrated red-wine grapes point to dense, fully ripe wines.”

Image credit: Austrian Wine Marketing Board