Steiermark, wine region in austria known in English as Styria, comprising the south-east corner of the country and incorporating the official wine regions of süd-oststeiermark, südsteiermark, and weststeiermark. In the age of Imperial Austria, adjacent wingrowing tracts of what is now slovenia were also considered part of Steiermark, making a total viticultural area more than twice the size of that remaining in Austria today. In 2006 Slovenia officially renamed a large share of the Podravje region ‘Stajerska Slovenija’, about which some Austrian neighbours had misgivings initially. The traditional centre for Styrian viticulture was in fact Maribor in Slovenia (Marburg in German), where in the early 19th century Archduke John of Austria directed expansion and improvements in winegrowing, including the introduction of most grape varieties found there today, for which he is still revered by both Austrian and Slovenian vintners.
