The Thermenregion: Between Tradition and Tomorrow

By Nils Kevin Puls
 

To mark a recent milestone anniversary, Austria’s association of traditional wine estates (ÖTW) invited into its fold a region that is in many regards the epitome of Herkunft, or origins. The Thermenregion, often held up as Austria’s Burgundy, brings a suitably deep and glorious wine tradition.

The ÖTW’s intake process for the Thermenregion is in the final stages of fine-tuning, reports chairman Michael Moosbrugger. Most likely, white wines from Erste Lage, or premier cru, sites from the 2022 vintage will be the first to be classified, followed by the reds. "In joining the ÖTW, it was crucial that the region’s wineries had internalized and lived the system of origin marketing," says Moosbrugger. The focus is less on individual wines and their classification, more on overall representation of a range and the corresponding communication. The shift from varietal wines and fantasy cuvées to a portfolio that represents an estate’s origins will take a few years, since designations and categories often can only be changed incrementally. 

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