Lower Austria/Niederösterreich

This wine growing region was legally defined in 1993, and has a total vineyard area of 2.176 hectares, spread among 1.397 individual producers. It is one of the eight wine-growing regions in the federal state of Lower Austria. Itborders on and lies to the east of the Wachau region, and is named after the river of the same name that meanders through the region. It is a very old wine-growing region, documents recording the vineyards held by the bishop of Passau in the Kremstal area date back to 973. After the devastation wrought by the Germanic migrations, the bishops of Salzburg and Bavaria had vineyards cultivated here from the 10th century on. By the 16th century, more than 40 monasteries in the immediate vicinity of Krems were given land for development as vineyards. Emperor Napoleon (1769-1821) visited the Göttweig foundation in 1805, before occupying Vienna, and was enthusiastic about the region and the wines he enjoyed there. The famous Austrian composer and self-confessed wine lover Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) is reputed to have gained the inspiration for his „Mariazell Mass“ at the same foundation. There are also strong connections in this region with the 1000-year-old tradition of the Moser wine-growing dynasty, The pioneering wine producer Laurenz Moser.(1905-1978) introduced the high trellising system known as „Hochkultur“, which he developed, in his vineyards from 1929 on, the headquarters of this group is in the commune of Rohrendorf close to Krems. Bedrock and loess dominate in terms of soil types, the relatively cool Atlantic climate, with high rainfall, is also clearly positively influenced by the Pannonian climate. In particular, the climate in the deeply engorged valley of the Danube has the best climate.

The larger, northerly section, which is part of the Waldviertel region, includes the wine-growing centre of Krems on the Danube, with the Stein suburb. Here one will find the Kögl, Pfaffenberg, Sandgrube, Steiner Hund and Wieden vineyard sites. Other wine-growing communes include Gedersdorf, Rohrendorf and Senftenberg. The southern section, which lies to the south of the Danube, includes Furth-Palt, Stift Göttweig with the Benedictine abbey founded in 1072, Krustetten, Hollenburg, Oberfucha and Tiefenfucha. Two large wine producers associations are Traditionsweingüter Österreich and Vinovative. Well-known wine producers include Aigner Wolfgang, Berger Erich, Buchegger, Dockner Josef, Forstreiter, Graf-Faltl, Lesehof Stagård, Malat, Mantlerhof, Nigl Martin, Moser Lenz, Moser Hermann, Moser Sepp, Müller-Grossmann, Müllner Johann, Proidl, Salomon Undhof, Schmid Josef, Türk Franz, Unger, Vorspannhof Mayr, Walzer Ewald, Weingut Stadt Krems, Winzer Krems, and Zöhrer Anton. The varieties planted are (2000):
Variety Synonyms, variants colour Hectares %-share
Veltliner Grüner Veltliner, Weißgipfler White 1.210 55,6
Müller-Thurgau Rivaner, Riesling x Sylvaner White 209 9,6
Riesling Rheinriesling, Weißer Riesling White 186 8,5
Zweigelt Blauer Zweigelt, Rotburger Red 181 8,3
Chardonnay
Pinot Blanc Feinburgunder
Weißburgunder, Klevner White 69 3,2,7
Neuburger - White 56 2,6
Blauer Portugieser Portugieser Red 50 2,3
Gemischter Satz (vineyard blend) White/red 39 1,8
Frühroter Veltliner Frühroter, Malvasier White 36 1,7
Blauburger - Red 25 1,1
Roter Veltliner - White 20 0,9
Pinot Noir Blauburgunder, Blauer Spätburgunder Red 15,2 0,7
Gemischter Satz - Red 14 0,6
St. Laurent - Red 12 0,6
Welschriesling - White 12 0,6
Muskat-Ottonel Feinschmeckerter White 8 0,4
Sauvignon Blanc Muskat-Sylvaner White 7 0,3
Muskateller Gelber Muskateller, Roter Muskateller White 5 0,2
Cabernet Sauvignon - Red 4,5 0,2
Merlot - Red 2,9 0,1
Traminer Roter Traminer, Gewürztraminer White 2,3 0,1
Silvaner Sylvaner, Grüner Sylvaner White 2,1 0,1
Bouvier - White 1,8 0,1
Cabernet Franc - Red 1,5 0,1
Goldburger - White 1,5 0,1
Pinot Gris Grauburgunder, Ruländer White 1,5 0,1
Scheurebe Sämling 88 White 0,9 -
Blaufränkisch Blauer Limberger, Limberger Red 0,7 -
Zierfandler Spätrot, Gumpoldskirchner White 0,4 -
Rotgipfler Rotreifler White 0,2 -
Jubiläumsrebe - White 0,2 -
White varieties 1.870 85,9
Red varieties 306 14,1
TOTAL 2.176 100