Styria/Steiermark

This wine-growing region is one of three growing regions in the federal state of Styria in Austria, the total vineyard area is 433 hectares, with 491 wine-growers. The small, narrow and stretched-out region borders on Slovenia in the south. It is an extremely ancient wine-growing region, with Illyrians, Celts and Romans growing vines here in their time. Celtic graves have been found at St. Florian. Viticulture can be traced back to the 4th century BC, and it is possible that the grape variety Schilcher also dates to this time. Vineyards on the Ligistberg mountain were first mentioned in documents dated 1235. The Schilcher grape was planted here for the first time in 1644. Well-known wine-growing towns and villages Bad Gams, Deutschlandsberg (Riede Burgegg), Eibiswald, Ligist, Marhof, Schwanberg, the centre of Schilcher cultivation, Stainz (Engelweingarten site), Stallhofen, St. Florian, St. Stefan with Gundersdorf, and Greisdorf and Wies (Lamberg site). The so-called „Kellerstöckln“ (cellar sticks)are typical of the region, they are merely a small press house built on top of an underground wine cellar.

The location in the foorhills of the Koralpe and the Reinischkogel mountains provides protection from the wind, and enables very high daytime temperatures to be reached. The vineyards are located at an altitude of 420 to 600 metres above sea level. The wine-growing communes are characterised by steep slopes, and vallies that can rightly be described as gorges. Gneis and slate soils predominate. The West Styria (Weststeiermark) region ist he classical home of the Schilcher grape, with more than 80% of the vineyard area planted with the Blauer Wildbacher grape, which is permitted for cultivation only in Styria, and is the basis for Schilcher wines. There is an association for the protection of classical Schilcher from West Styria („Verein zum Schutz des klassischen Schilcher aus der Weststeiermark“), its logo is a white horse. The scenically beautiful Schilcher wine route („Schilcher Weinstraße“) begins in Ligist, taking in the most important towns, and ends in Eibiswald. Well-known producers include Domäne Müller, Friedrich Christian, Jöbstl Johannes, Langmann, Lazarus, Oswald, Reiterer Christian, Resch-Longus, Strohmeier and Weinhof Florian.

The vines planted are (Status 2000):
Variety Synonyms – Variants Colour Hectares % share
Blauer Wildbacher Schilcher rot 356 82,2
Chardonnay
Morillon
Pinot Blanc Feinburgunder
Chardonnay
Weißburgunder, Klevner White 23 5,3
Zweigelt Blauer Zweigelt, Rotburger Red 15 3,5
Welschriesling - White 12 2,8
Müller-Thurgau Rivaner, Riesling x Sylvaner White 9 2,1
Sauvignon Blanc Muskat-Sylvaner White 4 0,9
Pinot Gris Grauburgunder, Ruländer White 3 0,7
Gemischter Satz - White 2 0,5
Riesling Rheinriesling, Weißer Riesling White 2 0,5
Goldburger - White 1,7 0,4
Scheurebe Sämling 88 White 1,5 0,3
Silvaner Sylvaner, Grüner Sylvaner White 1 0,2
Blauburger - Red 1 0,2
Blaufränkisch Blauer Limberger, Limberger Red 0,9 0,2
Traminer Roter Traminer, Gewürztraminer White 0,7 0,2
Blauer Portugieser Portugieser Red 0,6 0,1
Pinot Noir Blauburgunder, Blauer Spätburgunder Red 0,2 0,1
Muskateller Gelber Muskateller, Roter Muskateller White 0,2 0,1
Veltliner Grüner Veltliner, Weißgipfler White 0,1 -
White varieties 59 13,6
Red varieties 374 86,4
TOTAL 433 100