PRESS INFORMATION 1

WEINRIEDER and Grüner Veltliner in line for export

The estate already exports to 10 countries

The export success of the Austrian Wine Marketing Organisation is based on the work of successful wine growers. The estate WEINRIEDER of Kleinhadersdorf / Pysdorf has grown its export business to reach 80% of its production. This was made possible through serious emphasis on quality and methodical targeting of foreign markets. This involves being present at the most important European wine fairs, regular presentations at leading wine boutiques and in top level restaurants. Friedrich Rieder invests a lot of time into this aspect of the business; and he makes a point of always being present in person when there is a tasting at the point of sale. He considers it to be the most important aspect of his work philosophy : “to nurture the local character of the vineyard site and to compete on an international basis”. This attitude finds suitable appreciation in the trade literature. In the latest Falstaff Guide Weinrieder is awarded a top-grade mark of over 91 points and a 2-star overall rating which gives him the top position of all estates in the Weinviertel. The German magazine Sommelier considers the Grüner Veltliner – Klassik 2002 to be among the very best DAC wines; and in the ‘Feinschmecker’ (Gourmet) Magazine, Weinrieder is called the ‘discovery of the editors’.

Rieder’s most important export markets include Germany, the Benelux and Switzerland. He is also very optimistic about the situation in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the Czech Republic and the USA. The interest in these export markets is increasingly for dry whites – Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, Weissburgunder and Chardonnay. These add up to 90% of all exports. Weinrieder cultivates 15 hectares in some of the best positions in the Weinviertel. He sees his major challenge as competing with the most highly regarded estates of other wine regions. The fact that the Tasting Institute Chicago, in a tasting of Austrian wines, placed Weinrieder’s Weissburgunder Birthal 1999 in first place – awarding it 94 points – gives the winegrower Rieder the reassurance that he is on the right exporting track.