Austria is called the "Alpine Republic". But this is only partially true for wine: Although the country's highest vineyard is located at almost 1,100 metres in Tyrol, most of the approximately 45,000 hectares of vineyards are distributed around the eastern edge of the mountain range at lower altitudes and under continental, Pannonian to Mediterranean climatic influences. Since the late 1980s, Austria's wine industry has been modernised and has taken an enormous qualitative upswing, which has also established the country internationally as a source of top wines. This included the start of marketing based on the origin of the wines.