The toughest critics are to be found within the own ranks.
Why the ÖTW’s internal blind tasting is more than just a quality check.
About Us4 min read
AuthorDaniela Dejnega
About Us
4 min read
AuthorDaniela Dejnega
Jeder Wein wird blind eingeschenkt.
How the ÖTW assesses its single-vineyard wines internally
On a misty January morning, a very special tasting takes place at the Krems Wine Competence Centre: the internal tasting organised by ÖTW. Here, the current wines from the ‘Erste Lagen’ (Premier Cru) vineyards are not judged by experts from the press, the wine trade or the hospitality industry, but by the ÖTW winegrowers themselves. The event is organised as a blind tasting featuring over 300 wines, and all ÖTW members are required to attend at least one of the two tasting days.
A simple setting for a precise task:
The bright tasting room in Krems, reminiscent of a classroom, has a down-to-earht feel to it, yet offers everything one needs for a proper tasting: each place is equipped with six wine glasses, a spittoon and a carafe of water; a sheet of paper is provided for recording the scores for each individual wine. In my role as a co-tasting observer, I take a seat in the back rows. The atmosphere is one of relaxed attentiveness. You can immediately sense that everyone present is taking this tasting seriously. “The styles of the wines from the Erste Lagen vineyards are wide-ranging,” says Wagram-based organic winemaker Martin Diwald, “and the internal tasting simply shows very clearly where we stand with our own wines.”
Before the event begins, Michael Tischler-Zimmermann, the managing director of the ÖTW association, gives an opening address and reminds the winemakers – who are used to tasting wines at a brisk pace – to allow each wine sufficient time in the glass. Fifteen minutes are allocated for a flight of six wines. This will enable two tasting groups to evaluate almost 160 wines at their leisure over the course of the day.
Blind, cross-regional, comparable
The January tasting features precisely those wines that were presented at the previous year’s Single Vineyard Summit in Grafenegg; however, here in Krems they are tasted both blind and across different regions. This means that the wines are grouped solely by grape variety and vintage, but are mixed up in terms of regions and vineyards. This makes things even more exciting, but there is also a good reason for it.
Andreas Wickhoff from the Bründlmayer Winery, who has helped develop the internal tasting process over the years, says:
“Tasting wines from different regions makes perfect sense. It has helped us refine the tasting profile, allowing us to sample the wines as objectively as possible and better determine whether individual vineyards actually stand out from the rest in terms of quality. Deliberately allowing the wines more time in the glass was also an important step, and tasting the red wines first thing in the morning has proven to be effective. Ultimately, the internal tastings will help us to define our future ‘Große Lage’ wines at the very top of the quality pyramid.”
Recognising your own wines? It’s not as easy as it sounds.
The ÖTW winemakers present – some of whom are the cellar masters of their respective estates – are, in any case, fully focused from the outset, tasting, spitting and eagerly taking notes on the wines. The opportunity to see how their own wines perform in a blind tasting is clearly appreciated. My question as to whether the winemakers find it easy to recognise their own wines in this setting is mostly answered with a “no”. “I don’t usually recognise my wines, but yesterday I was able to identify one of them,” reveals Franz Leth, who has set aside time for both days of tasting. As a little challenge, the organisers have smuggled a few ‘pirates’ – that is, non-ÖTW wines – into the line-up. Spotting these is by no means easy; only Agnes Mantler hit the nail on the head with the Wachau wine slipped into a Riesling series. The Kremstal native remains unfazed:
“For me, chatting with my colleagues during the lunch break is just as important as the wine tasting. Our association has grown significantly in recent years – most recently with the addition of the Thermenregion and the Weinviertel – so I don’t yet know all the ÖTW members personally and I’m always seeing new faces here.”
Tasting and discussion go hand in hand
On the one hand, the internal tasting serves to meticulously evaluate the wines; on the other, it is an important forum for networking and discussion amongst the winemakers. As the perfectly organised afternoon tasting draws to a close, all the evaluation forms are collected. The next step is to digitise all the data and analyse it using a sophisticated system. The wineries receive the results of the tastings later in the form of a ‘vineyard analysis’ – a further step on the long road to vineyard classification.
About the author
Daniela Dejnega
Journalist
Wine journalist Daniela Dejnega was born in Upper Austria and discovered her passion for wine whilst studying at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences. She began working in the wine industry in 2003, completed her training as a wine academic in Rust (2008) and has been writing about wine full-time since 2011.
She spent nine years on the editorial team of the trade magazine ‘Der Winzer’. Her articles on wine have appeared in various publications – including the magazine Weinwisser, Vinum, Vinaria, Genuss-wein.pur, wein.plus and the US online magazine TRINK. She also writes for the WEIN & CO customer magazine and occasionally contributes as a columnist to the Salzburger Nachrichten.
In collaboration with wine journalist Luzia Schrampf, Daniela Dejnega has authored two books: “111 Austrian Wines You Must Have Tasted” (emons 2019) and “111 Sparkling Wines from Around the World You Must Have Tasted” (emons 2022). For three years, from 2023 to 2025, the expert taster took over as editor of the Gault & Millau Wine Guide Austria.
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