Austria

If your car ever gets frozen stuck in mid-winter in the wine-growing districts around Vienna, you're unlikely to receive much help. The famous anti-freeze scandal in 1985 almost destroyed the whole wine industry there: exports to England plummeted from 100,000 cases in 1985, to just 7,000 cases by 1989. These days, however, the Austrian wine industry is in rude health. With the strictest quality control system in the world, the producers cut no corners in making excellent-quality wines across a range of styles from both local and international varieties.

The dry, steely Rieslings are outstanding, as are the surprisingly ripe, concentrated reds, not to mention the dessert wines from Neusiedlersee. The quality and diversity of Austrian wine is just too good to ignore, and so we are delighted to reintroduce some of the very best examples into our list. Exciting and underrated, the country boasts wonderful indigenous varieties such as Grüner Veltliner, allied to a complex stylistic patchwork which effortlessly runs the gamut from sweet to dry. This is a country that has everything, including top class Chardonnays which often outperform the best white Burgundies in blind tastings.

Key established regions: Burgenland(Neusiedlersee), Lower Austria (Kamptal, Kremstal and Wachau)