The Guardian A freezing wind blows up from Lake Ferto, unchecked by the young vines on the slopes above. A long hot summer has given way to a grey autumn.
Snow whitens the Austrian alps, on the western horizon.
Kurt Taschner is proud of his latest plantation. The stems of the vines are spindly and red against the dark soil. Here and there a bunch of grapes dangles, left unnoticed by pickers during the harvest. Mr Taschner is happy. This will be a good year for Hungarian red wines - at least in those places where the soil was rich enough to protect the vine roots from drought.