The jury comprised 39,000 travel agents who evaluated tour organizers and travel bureaus, as well as destinations, tourism products and tourism organizations. In the category 'Best Wine Travel Destination - Europe', Austria took the prize, beating world-famous wine regions such as Bordeaux and Tuscany.

While all eyes were focused on the recently concluded Oscars and Leo finally got to take one home, another set of awards of the same magnitude in a different industry took place a little while ago. The Travvy Awards are the 'Academy Awards' of the American travel industry and Austria was chosen as the best wine tourism destination in Europe.

Austria is divided into wine making regions, each with a specialty

The nation of Austria has but a small presence on the European map in terms of size. But, that is about the only aspect small about this nation. Why do I say this? Let's look at it from the perspective of wine shall we? The Grüner Veltliner is to the world of wine today, what Chardonnay once was.

The Grüner Veltliner is to the world of wine today, what Chardonnay once was.

In a conversation with Michael Moosbrugger, the manager of the famous Schloss Gobelsburg winery in Austria, a lovely story emerged about how the Grüner Veltliner catapulted in style onto the international arena.

The story goes that close to two decades ago, the American consumption of Chardonnay was so high that market shelves were at breaking point from all the brands of the world trying to cater to this need. Naturally, sommeliers, with their vast knowledge, grew quickly tired of this trend and began what is famously known as the ABC movement or 'Anything But Chardonnay' movement. The idea was to bring in newer wines and showcase them to the world. That is when Austria brought out its ace--the Grüner Veltliner.

Here was the perfect alternative to the world's demand for a wine that cut across all most palates--lean, yet acidic, the GruVee gave to the world a wine that could be paired with just about anything. Today, Austrian GruVees feature predominantly in sommeliers' notes on must-haves across the world.

Experiencing Austrian Wines

Earlier last year I visited Austria on a wine tour and was honestly not prepared for the sheer variety on offer. While the face of Austrian wine may be the GruVee, the country is divided into specific wine-producing regions, each of which has defined varietals that they work on. The Austrian Wine Board has taken immense pains to set up an industry that is scientifically managed, well distributed in terms of land, grape varietals and production. Plus, it takes on aggressive marketing for it all.

The beauty of wineries in Austria is that while some of them have moved with the times and invested in the latest of technology, a large number of them follow traditional methods. So traditional are they that the cellars of castles and monasteries, once the bastions of wine-making, are still fully functional and with little (if any) modern technology to help them in their processes.

[C]ellars of castles and monasteries, once the bastions of wine-making, are still fully functional and with little (if any) modern technology to help them in their processes.

Take the unique wheeled casks put into operation by Michael Moosbrugger at Schloss Gobelsburg. When Austrian wineries took up extensive modernization in the 90s, Michael was hesitant to introduce stainless steel tanks and temperature control into cellars that did the job unaided all this time. Why bring temperature to the wine when you can take wine to the temperature, he thought and devised the wheeled casks. These are moved to different temperature zones, without requiring a pumping system in place. Want to experience the difference? The Domaene Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner 2009 is your perfect sample!