German-language equivalent of the Hungarian Aszú, traditionally designating sweet wines made from botrytized grapes which made the reputations of tokaj and of Rust on the shores of the neusiedlersee. The methods involved historically in making Ruster Ausbruch are unknown but considerable circumstantial evidence suggests that furmint—still-dominant around Tokaj—long played a similar role in Rust, where that variety almost disappeared until a modest revival was mounted at the end of the 20th century. Ausbruch officially remains a trans-regional category of Austrian wine (stipulating botrytized grapes at a minimum must weight of 27 °kmw—equivalent to 139 °oechsle); in practice the term is widely used only in Rust, whose growers, as members of the Cercle Ruster Ausbruch, in 1991 set a lower limit of 30 °KMW. They further distinguished it from trockenbeerenauslese as having finesse and effusive fruit rather than opulence and a target alcohol level of 12%. Ruster Ausbruch wines may be made from any of the many white grapes grown in Rust, notably Chardonnay, Muskateller, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc, and Welschriesling, as well as occasionally (and memorably) from Furmint, or even Pinot Noir.
