Vinarias best Sauvignon blancs from Austria

08 Sep 2025 – Press

This year’s tasting of Sauvignon Blanc made in Austria demonstrated a high standard and remained extremely exciting right up until the final round of the mini-final. A wine from Burgenland shared first place with a South Styrian wine.

Vinaria has selected the interesting vintages from 2021 to 2024 for tasting. They ranged from good to excellent – ​​with regional differences – and exhibited their own unique character.

According to the literature, the vintages are considered challenging (2024), difficult (2023), capricious (2022), and dreamy (2021).

Unsurprisingly, the list of the best wines includes a disproportionate number of representatives from the magnificent 2021 vintage, exclusively from Styria.

The challenging year of 2023 offered ideal conditions for the aromatic Sauvignon Blanc variety even outside of Styria, as demonstrated by the success of a wine from Burgenland, which deservedly shared first place with a Styrian wine.

Big Surprise at the Top

For many years, it was a given that a Styrian wine would be at the top of the winner’s podium in our grand blind tasting. This time, things are a little different. Andi Kollwentz, with his magnificent 2023 Sauvignon Blanc Ried Steinmühle Methusalemreben, shares first place with Walter Skoff‘s 2021 “Royal,” a delicate and elegant wine with an unusually subtle use of oak.

Kollwentz’s Sauvignon Blanc literally worked its way up the tasting ladder. It gradually gained momentum in the final and the numerous rounds of the mini-final. What initially seemed almost monolithic became increasingly refined and accessible. The wine showcases the variety, terroir, and ageing potential.

The “Royal,” on the other hand, had already presented itself very noble and invitingly in the preliminary round, but even it began to lose its oxygen as the tasting progressed. Walter Skoff also contributed the second-best wine of the tasting, the delicate 2021 Sauvignon Blanc Ried Hochsulz, which is characterized by its soil.

The elite 17-point club of great winemakers

The elite club of wines between 17.0 and 17.5 points consists exclusively of wines from Styria. This group is led by Reinhard Muster‘s 2021 Ried Grubthal. This unmistakably South Styrian, elegant, and perfectly structured Sauvignon achieved 17.5 points.

Close behind was Stefan Potzinger‘s “Joseph” Ried Sulz, which is the same age and impressed with its noble spice, dark aromas, and earthy tones. This winemaker performed excellently overall with the wines he submitted.

The situation was similar at Weingut Felberjörgl, whose crisp, fresh 2022 Sauvignon Blanc Ried Höchleit’n scored 17.2 points. Kollerhof am Eichberg was tied with the delicate and elegant, Riesling-like Steinkogl Reserve from the top vintage of 2021. Muster.Gamlitz and Stefan Potzinger struck again, with the 2022 Ried Grubthal and the one-year-younger “Joseph” Ried Sulz each scoring 17.1 points.

The duo, which received a score of 17.0, consists of Frauwallner‘s Sauvignon Blanc GSTK Ried Buch (2022 vintage) and Potzinger’s Ried Czamillonberg 2021.

Other finalists made an impression

The following wines are represented in the final and therefore highly recommended: Ried Ollwitsch 2022 from Riegelnegg Olwitschhof, the 2022 edition of the “Joseph” Ried Sulz from Stefan Potzinger, the 2022 Ortswein Kitzeck-Sausal and the 2021 Ried Meletin from the Silberberg State Winery, as well as the monolithic and extremely precise Sauvignon Blanc Ried am Walts Reserve 2022 from Christian Krampl’s Oberguess Winery.

Special Value-Performance Wines

This time, the list of Best Buy wines up to €15 is noteworthy. The range extends from 16.9 points for the Kitzeck-Sausal local wine from the Silberberg state winery to 16.0 points for the Johann Schneeberger, G+R Triebaumer, Pfeifer, and Winkler-Hermaden wineries. This highly recommended segment includes renowned wineries as well as lesser-known producers with impressive quality.

First-class wines from all wine-growing regions

In summary, this tasting demonstrated a surprisingly high standard of Austrian Sauvignon Blancs.

It was also pleasing to note that many winemakers adapt the aging of their wines to the terroir. For example, the delicate and fine-structured wines from crystalline soils tolerate far less oak than muscular wines from the Opok region.

It is also pleasing that excellent Sauvignon Blanc can be produced in all wine-growing regions of the Alpine republic. Naturally, Styria has the edge, as this variety is the country’s flagship variety. It is now common knowledge that these wines have nothing to fear when compared to the best representatives worldwide.

– Vinaria Magazine Nr. 05/2025