Viticulture today

Currently 4.200 hectares are under cultivation as vineyards in Styria. That means that Styria has about 9 % of the total vineyards in Austria and produces somewhat more than 7 % of the country’s wine. The vineyards generally make use of dry, stony and steep slopes that otherwise would probably not be cultivated. Over the half of the Styrian vineyards have a slope of more than 26 %, so that they are quite properly called mountain vineyards.

These vineyards are generally small operations, of which there are some 3.000. The average vineyard covers only 1.40 hectare. Yet these small vineyards offer not only economic security to many families but are also attractive for the tourism industry.

About the half of the wine that is drunk in Styria is also produced there, so there is no danger of overproduction. In order to survive in the face of the competition created by the larger wine-growing provinces in Lower Austria and Burgenland, the Styrian vintners have successfully concentrated on producing exceptional wines of unusual quality.

The vintners themselves market more than two third of the production. The Buschenschank, or wine garden, is of interest here. Emperor Josef II established the legal basis for these establishments in 1874 by permitting anyone to sell his own produce, wine and hard cider at any time of the year, and however and at whatever price he wished.

Styrian vintners provide their guests with their own wine and homemade food. The menu at a Buschenschank is ample. There is homemade bread to go with a variety of cheeses, smoked meats, cream cheese and savory spreads, meat in aspic and tasty pumpkinseed oil.