Wagram

Vineyards in the Wagram wine growing region, Lower Austria (Photo: ÖWM/Lehmann)

What was once known as the Donauland wine growing region today bears the name of a slight rise in the landscape which formed the northern bank of the Danube river in the Ice Age. It is divided into two sub-zones, with one, by far the more important, located north of the Danube, bordering in the west on the Kamptal growing region, in the north of the Wagram, and touching on the Weinviertel region in the east. The larger portion, in terms of area, is located south of the Danube and stretches as far as Klosterneuburg (from which it takes the name of its regional site designation) and also as far as the borders of the city of Vienna, although this section only has a total vineyard area of 350 hectares, while the northern section has 2,500 hectares of vines.

The layers of loess soils in the Wagram region are metres deep, providing an ideal foundation for Grüner Veltliner, which is grown here on more than half the total vineyard area. There is hardly another grape variety that is as much at home on loess soils as this one. The soils provide the wines with an elegant spice and minerally notes that complement the typical peppery note of Veltliner, underlining it, and also provide mature examples in many cases with characteristic citrus notes, which one finds frequently in white varieties grown on loess soils, not just here in the Wagram region.

Although the wines are clearly defined by the soil structures, this does not mean that the Veltliners from the region are all the same or boring. Their spectrum ranges from elegant, filigree and refreshing to powerful, complex and long-lived. Compared to the leading grape variety, the other varieties grown in the Wagram region cover relatively modest areas. Müller-Thurgau still accounts for around 10 per cent of the total vineyard area, though it is seldom found mentioned on labels. Zweigelt, as the leading red variety, is of considerably greater importance for bottled wines of good quality, as are Riesling and the rare Roter (red) Veltliner. In addition to still wines produced in the Wagram region, quite a large amount of sparkling wine is also produced here, mainly by wineries in the Klosterneuburg area.

All producers from the Wagram area in the wine guide

Kremstal

View to the Kremstal (Photo: ÖWM)

The Kremstal region lies to the east of the Wachau region. Although it was only legally defined and proclaimed in 1993, the region looks back on a wine growing tradition dating back more than a thousand years. The most important part of the region lies to the north of the Danube, around the town of Krems, and stretching up as far as the Waldviertel, from where the Krems river descends to the Danube, where it first flows parallel to the Danube for a while, in the east it stretches to the borders of the Kamptal region near Gedersdorf. The section that lies to the south of the Danube is completely surrounded by the Traisental region.

In the Kremstal region, too, by far the most important variety is the Grüner Veltliner, which accounts for more than half the total vineyard area. The variety finds ideal growing conditions both on the soils of decomposed primary rock to the west and north of Krems as well as on the deep layers of loamy soil to the east, although it is difficult to categorise the wines uniformly as a result of the totally different conditions. Riesling is the second most important variety (although in terms of area it comes in behind Müller-Thurgau), it feels considerably more at home on the primary rock soils, where it produces excellent wines particularly around the towns of Krems and Senftenberg, wines that need not hide behind their famous neighbours from the Wachau region. As is the case almost everywhere in Lower Austria, the leading red variety is Zweigelt, grown on a vineyard area equal in size to that of Riesling.

The DAC Krems classification was launched in 2007. It applies exclusively to Grüner Veltliner and Riesling wines, and as a result wines from other varieties are now marketed only under the “Lower Austria” designation of origin.

All producers from the Kremstal area in the wine guide

Traisental

Vineyards in the Traisental wine growing region, Lower Austria (Photo: ÖWM/Armin Faber)

The Traisental region was formerly part of the Donauland wine growing region, and only received its own name and status in 1995. This makes it the youngest wine growing region in Austria, though it is also one of the oldest. Archaeological finds show viticulture was practised here even in Pre-Roman times. The entire area lies to the south of the Danube, and borders on the Kremstal and Wachau regions in the north, and on the Wagram region in the north-east and east. In the south, the vineyards, which are mostly terraced, and have sandy, loamy and lime-stone-rich soils, stretch as far as the state capital of St. Pölten.

The Traisental region is the region in Austria with the highest proportion of Veltliner vines, more than 60 per cent. Compared to this, Riesling accounts for only a minuscule area, but is also of importance in view of its quality. When conditions are right, both varieties produce firm, frequently very minerally wines. Unusually among the red varieties, Zweigelt is beaten into second place by the Portugieser grape.

A DAC classification for Riesling and Grüner Veltliner was introduced in the Traisental region in time for the 2006 vintage, with the same results and consequences for wines made from other varieties as pertain in the Kremstal, the Kamptal and the Weinviertel regions. A special rule here – just as in the Weinviertel region –, and we believe this is a smart move, permits dry wines to only have a maximum residual sugar content of six grams per litre, instead of the nine grams permitted elsewhere. If truth be told, the rule introduced and applied in the very first year of DAC, of permitting only a maximum of four grams per litre of residual sugar, was even smarter.

All producers from the Traisental area in the wine guide