Perhaps you have noticed that the 2004 Sauvignon Blancs are hitting the market. Depending upon where they are from, some are being touted as being the result of one of the all-time great vintages in years. So what makes a Sauvignon Blanc stand out from one year to the next?

The wine regions of Austria are divided into 4 areas, called Lower Austria, Styria, Burgenland, and Vienna. Each of these regions is then further divided, for a total of 19 designated wine growing areas. To roughly get your bearings, Lower Austria encompasses the wine growing areas north and west of Vienna, with Burgenland south and east of Vienna and Styria south and west of Burgenland.

Ruster Ausbruch is a specialty sweet dessert wine from Austria. In understanding what Ruster Ausbruch is, it is helpful to first look at the name itself: Ruster is pronounced “rooster”, like the bird, and it simply means that the wine comes from the town of Rust (pronounced roost) in the Burgenland region of Austria. Ausbruch is pronounced ahs-brook, and comes from the German word Ausbrechen, which means to “break out.”

The wine regions of Austria are divided into 4 areas, called Lower Austria, Styria, Burgenland, and Vienna. Each of these regions is then further divided, for a total of 19 designated wine growing areas. To roughly get your bearings, Lower Austria encompasses the wine growing areas north and west of Vienna, with Burgenland south and east of Vienna and Styria south and west of Burgenland.