Neuburger is a green grape from Austria.
Characteristics
Neuburger is a low acidity variety. This, together with a proneness to pick up Botrytis Cinera, makes it an excellent contestant for producing sweet wines.
It is also a low aromatic grape, meaning its wines come with a neutral taste. You can expect to find notes of flowers and spiciness in young wines, and with age they become more nutty. The variety is recognized for being very good for the production of Qualitätswein and Prädikat wines.
Wines
In spite of being in decline, it is still permitted for production of quality wine in Austria.
You will find it in several different styles, such as dry, off-dry and sweet (dessert) wine. Look for wines from the area around the town of Spitz.
Food pairing
The off-dry Neuburger wine is very nice with spicy food, for example from the Chinese or Indian kitchen. The wine is best served at 6-8°C/43-46°F.
Where is it grown?
Neuburger’s heartland is in north-eastern Austria with reported plantings of 652 ha/1,611 ac. The variety is the fourteenth most planted grape in the country. It has however lost forty percent of its plantings between 2000 and 2010.
Reports of plantings outside of Austria comes from Czech Republic (303 ha/749 ac), Romania (66 ha/164 ac), and Slovakia (9 ha/22 ac).
History
Neuburger is recognised as being of Austrian origin, most likely from the north-eastern wine region Wachau. It is a natural crossing between Roter Veltliner and Silvaner.