Austria's Traditionsweingüter don't stand still for long, as I found out at their recent substantial tasting of the 2015 vintage at Schloss Grafenegg north east of the town of Krems, less than an hour's drive west of Vienna. This private association of producers, the Österreichische Traditionsweingüter or ÖTW, in the Lower Austria regions of Kremstal, Kamptal, Traisental and Wagram, founded in 1992, are in relentless but methodical and conciliatory pursuit of their holy grail of Burgundy-style vineyard classification, described in Austria wrestles with vineyard classification.
For the 2016 vintage they have introduced a three-tier system, as shown in the...