WeinArchitektur - Vom Keller zum Kult / WineArchitecture - The Winery Boom

edited by Architekturzentrum Wien

Architects have their own language which often intimidates me. I usually read a wine magazine or wine book on the ferry from Staten Island to Manhattan, but this week I was completely engrossed in reading about architecture. In particular Austria's new futuristic wineries and the psychology that lies behind what the authors call the new winery boom.

WeinArchitektur - Vom Keller zum Kult / WineArchitecture - The Winery Boom is a dual-language catalog of an exhibition, which was shown at the Architekturzentrum in Vienna from September 2005 to February 2006. The texts on the individual wineries as well as three essays are in both German and English.

The book looks at 65 mostly Austrian wineries which have undergone a complete overhaul or at least a significant change of their buildings in the last two decades. After Austria's wine scandal in 1985, when it was discovered that some winemakers had added diethylene glycol to make their wines suppler and sweeter and thus more successful on the export market, Austria's wine industry collapsed. Other countries banned Austrian wines from being imported, Austrians themselves lost their trust in their own winemakers. In order to regain the trust and shake off its now disastrous reputation, things had to be done differently. Austria's growers knew that they had to focus on quality more than ever before if they wanted to persuade the rest of the world that not all Austrian winemakers were scoundrels with good connections to the local pharmacist. Yields were lowered significantly, antiquated production facilities were modernized. To the surprise of many, this was done not in a low-key manner but often with a resoluteness unknown to local tradition. In some cases with the help of internationally renowned architects.

Weingut Umathum - less noise,
more subtlety
Photo courtesy of Weingut Umathum

Each winery portrait briefly outlines the winery's production profile as well as its winemaking philosophy. Several photos and in most cases also floor plans and other architectural drawings illustrate the changes the winery has undergone. These individual sketches are then placed into a larger context provided by the book's excellent three essays. Of course, references have to be made to the chateaux in the Bordeaux region where the grandness of a wine often is equaled (and sometimes surpassed) by the grandness of the chateau. In their essays, the authors draw parallels to Bordeaux's example where the architecture is actually creating a brand. As Christian Seiler summarizes at the beginning of his essay: "No wine without a building." Indeed. I was formed by the surroundings I grew up in and so are wines. The new homes of these wines often feature several levels, thus being able to take advantage of the subtlety of gravity when transporting the finished wine into maturation containers, rather than having to pump the wine mechanically. It is then stored in newly dug temperature-controlled cellars, yet another level further down.

The use of advanced technology inevitably impacts the character of wine. That's why looking closely at the winery may tell you a lot about the wine that is being made here. As Seiler concludes his article: "Nobody who produces slim, elegant wines wanted an ostentatious chateau in their vineyard. Nobody who prefers substantial, impressive wines spent any time on delicate details for their new building."

The notion of the winery stepping out of its romantic anonymity and into the spotlight of media attention is picked up by Ralph Eue's essay, in which the author likens modern wineries like Opus One in Napa Valley to theatres offering the paying audience a fully-orchestrated (and thus fully controlled) vineyard experience. The goal is more to impress the visitors than actually letting them peek behind curtains. Austria's new wineries haven't reached this level of exclusiveness yet, but the winery portraits provide clues in which direction the winemaker is heading to.

Unfortunately, this very informative and excellently written book is now out of print, but the publisher's website lets one browse online through its pages.

The Wines of Germany

The most detailed book in English language about German wines which I have come across so far. Naturally, Riesling enjoys a lot of attention in Stephen Brook's insightful book.
"The Wines of Germany" can be divided into two sections: the first gives a useful overview of Germany's wine history and explains the various styles of German wine. The different grape varieties, even the most obscure ones, are described in detail. Mr. Brook also tries to illuminate the dark chambers of the much discussed German wine law. He outlines the good intentions of winemaker associations such as the VDP and Charta who for many years have tried to fight a law which ignores the notion of terroir and instead puts ripeness levels above all as the sole criteria for the quality of a wine. But the author also points out the shortcomings of some of these attempts. The Charta movement in the Rheingau started to disintegrate from the inside because leading members had different views on how rigid a new vineyard classification should be and several members left the VDP because the minimum requirements for first growth classifications were seen as being too low. What makes this chapter such an interesting read is the fact that Mr. Brook lets the involved growers have their say, quoting them wherever it's necessary to shed light on a matter that has become utterly confusing.

The second part of the book is dedicated to Germany's different wine regions. The most important vineyards are described in detail, including its size, the characteristic and composition of the soil, its micro-climate and ownership, since most vineyards in Germany are owned by several growers. I have not seen such a detailed description of so many German vineyards in a single book before. These sections are most useful to anyone who is interested in learning more about the micro-climatic origin of a particular German wine. Mr. Brook then covers a wide range of producers for each region, pointing out their strengths and weaknesses alike.

There is a lot of information packed into this book but the numerous growers' quotations, which are seamlessly integrated into the flow of each chapter, make it a diverting read. The detailed vineyard and producer descriptions make it also a useful reference book. The two chapters about the German wine law and vineyard classification would have benefited from a better organization to help the reader through Germany's legal clutter.

Riesling Renaissance

I got very excited when I saw this book online. It doesn't happen often that one dedicates a whole book on the Riesling variety. The title, too was promising. A new look at Riesling, lifting the burden of misconceptions that still hangs on its vines. "Riesling Renaissance" starts with a brief overview of the rise and fall of German Riesling in the last century and Riesling's affinity to terroir. Then follow 8 country chapters in which Mr. Price looks at different growing regions in more detail.
The title of the book is a bit of a misnomer. I expected a more thorough analysis of how the renaissance of Riesling manifests itself and what started it in the first place. To simply state that "Chardonnay had lost some of its glamour and Riesling developed a new impetus" touches the surface only. The selection of winemakers which are portrayed after each region focuses perhaps a bit too much on established estates, with the new generation of winemakers such as Bernhard Knebel, Andreas Adam or Sybille Kuntz falling short in the representation of who is instigating a new interest in Riesling wines amongst consumers. However, Mr. Price's life-long dedication to Riesling shines through when he talks about specifics of vineyards, particularly those in the Mosel region. Finally, the book is full with typographical errors, e.g. Hermann J. Wiemer's last name is spelled "Weimer" throughout the book. One should think that more care would have been taken on the publisher's side.