Why Austria is getting excited about the 2025 harvest

According to the president of the Austrian Winegrowers’ Association Johannes Schmuckenschlager, Austrian wine connoisseurs can look forward to an exceptionally fruity and easy-drinking vintage. With the 2025 harvest, also a somewhat lighter vintage is expected, a style that is currently in particularly high demand on both the domestic and international wine market. The changeable weather has created the perfect conditions for the grapes to ripen and develop aromas. After a very small harvest in 2024, this year promises a good average volume of around 2.5 million hectolitres. The main harvest will begin around one to two weeks later than last year, thus falling within the normal time frame.

Photo: © Austrian Wine / Robert Herbst

Consumers are favouring light and fruity red wines

“Despite the extremely challenging market situation, this year’s harvest and the high quality of the grapes are giving winemakers new drive and motivation. The 2025 harvest is expected to yield a fruity, somewhat lighter vintage – precisely the style of wine that is in high demand at the moment, both in Austria and in the international wine markets. This vintage has the potential to give an important boost to the whole wine market,” Schmuckenschlager explained.

“Once again, the winemakers have done their best this year to ensure healthy grapes,” said the president of the Winegrowers’ Association, going on to explain, “We can look forward to grapes with a good balance of sugar to acidity and delicate aromatics. In the case of red wines, too, we expect harmonious, fruity wines, which fits perfectly with the current trend towards lighter red wines – ones that can readily be drunk a little cooler.”

2025 marked by very unsettled weather

“Thanks to the weather conditions in 2025, we can assume that the harvest will start at the normal time this year and expect an average harvest volume,” Schmuckenschlager added. Winter 2024/25 was cooler than the previous year, albeit without any prolonged cold spells. The spring 2025 as marked by variable temperatures, with some brief cold spells at the start of April, which did not affect the vines as they had not yet begun to bud. Budding ultimately took place in the middle to end of April.

May was somewhat cooler, so blossoming started two weeks later than in the previous year (in the first two weeks of June), and progressed relatively quickly. After a dry spring, rain in May and June ensured a good supply of water. “Once again, the Austrian winemakers have excelled in keeping the vines healthy during this important vegetation period when the vines are most fragile,” said Schmuckenschlager. There were no large-scale hail storms, except early and localized ones in Steiermark (Styria) in May and the Wachau on 1 June.”

The first hot spell in June and at the start of July accelerated growth, while the cooler weather in July repeatedly brought with it the necessary rain. August finally brought warm days and cool nights – perfect conditions for optimum ripening and the development of delicate aromas.

New pests are a cause of concern for winemakers

As a result of climate change, a growing number of new, invasive pests are spreading throughout Austria’s vineyards. Following the long-established spotted-wing drosophila, the American grapevine leafhopper has also become widespread. This pest transmits the phytoplasma disease flavescence dorée, which is a major threat to vines. Countermeasures are consequently needed, especially in south-eastern Styria and the south of Burgenland.

The 2025 harvest planned for the usual period

“Due to the vines budding later than last year, the later blossoming and the propitious ripening phase with the aforementioned differences between daytime and night-time temperatures, this year’s harvest will start a week or two later than last year, but still within the traditional harvest period. This is very good news for the winemakers as it means that the concentration of sugar in the grapes won’t slip, the grapes will maintain a good level of acidity and will have time to ripen fully,” explained Schmuckenschlager.

The harvest of Most (grape juice) and Sturm (partially fermented grape juice) has already started in Burgenland, with the main harvest there expected to start on 8 September. Winemakers in Steiermark (Styria) are envisaging starting the harvest in the second week of September, while in some parts of Niederösterreich (Lower Austria) and Wien (Vienna) harvesting already began at the beginning of September. However, the main harvest here will not start until the second and third weeks of September.

Compared to very small harvest of 2024, this year is expected to deliver average volumes

“After the small harvest in 2024 (only 1.87 million hectolitres), this year’s volume looks much more promising. Good budding, problem-free blossoming, very little weather damage and grapes that are not overly big and with relatively small diameters all have an impact on the forecast for this year,” explained Schmuckenschlager. “We are expecting an average harvest of around 2.5 million hectolitres – a little above the average of the last few years,” he added. Producers of white wine in particular are looking forward to the new harvest, following the low volumes of last year.

Wine still ranked #1 with the younger generation

During the press conference, Chris Yorke, CEO of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board (Austrian Wine) delivered some first insights into an important future project on the part of Austrian Wine. “We are noticing that younger consumers (aged between 20 and 35) are drinking less alcohol – but wine is still the most popular alcoholic beverage in this age group. Consequently, we are busy working on a new campaign to bring young people and Austrian wine together. This will be launched in the autumn.” The campaign will be presented to the public at a press conference in November.

About Austrian Wine

The Austrian Wine Marketing Board (Austrian Wine), based in Vienna, is a national service body for the Austrian wine industry. It was founded in 1986 with the aim of strategically supporting, coordinating and maintaining quality and sales. The company’s goal is to maintain the high share of Austrian wine on the domestic market. At the same time, it is also aiming to grow wine exports with a focus on value creation.