Difficult weather conditions severely impacted the Austrian wine harvest last year. Late frosts, drought, and heavy rainfall caused production to fall by a fifth compared to the previous year, dropping to 1.87 million hectoliters in 2024, according to Statistics Austria on Friday. This marks the lowest production level in 14 years. The Chamber of Agriculture had initially expected around 2 million hectoliters in autumn 2024.

The most significant drop was seen in white wine production, which fell by 22% to 1.29 million hectoliters. Red wine production also decreased by 13% compared to 2023, reaching 578,600 hectoliters. In total, the production of both white and red wine was 22% below the five-year average. However, the wine inventory as of the end of July 2024 remained stable at 3.04 million hectoliters, matching the previous year’s peak, according to the statisticians.

Strongest Decline in Lower Austria

The production declines affected all major wine-growing regions in Austria. The strongest setback occurred in Lower Austria, where production fell by 23% to 1.18 million hectoliters compared to 2023. Styria saw a 16% drop to 159,200 hectoliters, while Burgenland’s harvest decreased by 14% to 504,000 hectoliters. In contrast, Vienna experienced a relatively modest 5% decline, producing just 21,900 hectoliters in 2024, which is a comparatively small amount of wine.