I arrive in the town of Rust in the province of Burgenland for my first 3 day seminar block at the Austrian Wine Academy. Rust is located on the west shore of Austria's largest lake, Neusiedler. Although the lake covers 320 km², it is no deeper than 1 ½ meters. The surrounding broad belt of grass and reeds provides a habitat for a large variety of birds. Rust has only 1700 inhabitants and for such a small village it has quite an impressive old town with several buildings dating from the middle ages --- some with huge, precariously perched stork's nests on their rooftops. Colorfully painted, courtly houses present themselves fortress-like and stand shoulder to shoulder along the main street, each with a large wooden gate or door in the middle. Where the gate is open, I am able to peer into a courtyard and realize that the houses are U-shaped and much larger than they appear from the street. The town of Rust has a proud vinous history and her ambition set her distinctly apart from the other humble villages in the vicinity in 1681 as citizens bought their rights as a „free city" from Kaiser Leopold I for 60,000 gulden and 30,000 liters of wine. Wine continues to be a main source of income here and many of the stately buildings that I pass house wineries. On the corner at the end of the street I find the Austrian Wine Academy with its front gate open wide to welcome the diploma candidates filing in.

Beyond the Academy's entrance I find a large well-kept courtyard filled with fellow wine students cued up to report in to the reception hall on the right. To my left, mounted on the wall next to the vinoteque entrance are marble tablets carved with the names of the students that have successfully completed the Weinakademiker Diploma thus far. I laugh together with a few other students wondering if we will actually see our names carved in stone before we die. As we register we are each given the remaining study material for the first year along with the German version of Jancis Robinson's Oxford Wine Companion.

I will be in the same group of 30 to 40 students for the entire year. On the schedule for our first day is a morning seminar and afternoon workshop in viticulture and an evening invitation to the diploma graduation ceremony and wine tasting. I find my classroom in the second floor and am pleased to find high ceilings, large windows and good lighting. I take a seat up near the front. The chairs and tables are reasonably comfortable with sufficient elbow room between students. Each seat has two wine glasses, a water glass, a plastic cup, a carafe of still water and a bottle of mineral water set before it. Wine Academy director Dr. Josef Schuller enters the classroom and introduces our lecturer for the entire day. Bernard Fiedler is a winemaker from nearby Moerbisch and will receive his Weinakademiker diploma this evening with honors.

Without further restrain Bernhard Fiedler begins his lecture. He briefly reviews the theoretic material we are all expected to have studied in advance before going on to specifics in the vineyard. We learn more about various trellis and training systems as well as pruning techniques. Soil and canopy management are covered with particular attention to comparing old and new world techniques. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of cover crops and plowing in the vineyard and harvesting by hand and machine. Pest and disease control and prevention are also covered. Mr. Fiedler has a clear, well structured manner of presenting the material and puts charts, graphs, illustrations, and a film to good use. As he goes over some of the past exam questions on viticulture, he demonstrates what a good answer would include. We may for example, have the choice between a question with six viticutural terms to explain and define or an analytical question to answer in essay form. Here are two typical examples:

• Explain and define the following terms: Geneva double curtain, nematodes, millerandage, terraced vineyards, fungicides, and AxR1.
• What is organic viticulture and what are its goals? Explain the techniques used. Which climatical conditions are most favorable for this form of viticulture?
  

Mr. Fiedler explains that if we can't come up with an answer to all six parts of the first question it is better to choose the second. In both cases specifics and examples are desired and a good answer would fill up at least two pages. The exam questions change each year and usually include current themes and discussions in the branch, so reading periodicals is important. He also recommends reading „The Art and Science of Wine" from Johnson and Halliday. We close the morning with a tasting of a few of the Fiedler family's own wines where Mr. Fiedler demonstrates vineyard and vintage sensory influence.

A buffet lunch at the neighboring Hotel Sifkovits is always included in the Academy's tuition and afterwards we head for the vineyards for our workshop. From the gentle vineyard slopes we have a view of the lake, which being so shallow often appears brownish gray, but today is incredibly blue under clear autumn skies. With the harvest two months behind us and the vines bare of leaves, we get a good look at different training systems. Finally, I am able to completely understand the difference between spur and cane pruning. Some of the other students are winemakers and pose several interesting questions and we have an lively discussion in the field. It has been a very informative day with Bernhard Fiedler. I have learned a lot and have received a lot of good tips for further study. I am happy to have a two hour break to digest all the new information before we the evening's graduation ceremony.

Schloss Esterhazy in the Burgenland capitol Eisenstadt is dramatically lit and well visible from the highway coming from Rust. The baroque palace from the Austro-Hungarian empire makes quite a distinguished backdrop for the Austrian Wine Academy's graduation ceremony. The largest number of graduates yet in the 7 years that the WSET Diploma has been offered at the Austrian Wine Academy receive their Diplomas. Twenty two candidates step up the Haydn Hall podium to receive their diploma from Austria's only Master of Wine, Dr. Josef Schuller. Josef Haydn conducted his compositions for an aristocratic audience on this same stage 200 years ago! Two of the students have graduated with honors and are invited to attend the graduation and award ceremony of the Wine Spirit & Education Trust in London. „Pepi" Schuller seems to beam with fatherly pride and, indeed, he does much to support his students: after the ceremony we not only have the chance to taste wines and meet the winemakers from the Pannobile wineries of Burgenland, a wine job market has been organized for us. Top employers in the wine branch are offering jobs and looking for Austria's top wine experts among the Academy students. The atmosphere in Schloss Esterhazy is euphoric and I enjoy the opportunity to get to know fellow students and diploma graduates. My first day at the Austrian Wine Academy has left me with quite a positive, professional impression of the institution and I feel confident that I have chosen a good path for furthering my wine knowledge.