The Danube is like a thread through the Niederösterreich's wine regions as they follow it from west to east. In each, a set of grape varieties have been classified for DAC wines that can be recognised by the red-white-red banderole on the top of their bottles. Wines from other Qualitätswein grape varieties — as everywhere in Austria — bear the local generic designation of origin, which in this case is Niederösterreich. In most regions, there is a three-tier quality pyramid, rising from regional, to village wine and then to Riedenwein which designates individual vineyard sites.
On the beautiful blue Danube
Wachau is the westernmost winegrowing district in Niederösterreich. Sculpted into a valley by the Danube, the terraces of vines line both sides of the river.
Before the establishment of the DAC here in 2020, the local Vinea Wachau association created the first set of regulations for three categories of wine (Steinfeder, Federspiel and Smaragd) in the mid 1980s. The extensive range of authorised grape varieties for regional wines becomes smaller for the village wines and is limited to Grüner Veltliner and Riesling for the Riedenweine top wines.
Southeast of Wachau is the Traisental, while to the northeast, along the Danube, one reaches Kremstal and then Kamptal. Only Grüner Veltliner and Riesling may be bottled as DAC wines here, in villages each of which owes its name to a river — Krems, Kamp and Traisen — that flows into the Danube.
From the seashore to the pioneers
Directly following the Danube, via Kremstal and Kamptal, one reaches the region known as Wagram, whose name is derived from Wogenrain — ‘seashore’. A particular speciality here is Roter Veltliner, an indigenous white variety that joins Grüner Veltliner and Riesling in being approved for Riedenwein.
The range of authorised grape varieties then expands for village and regional wines. Starting from Kamptal, the Weinviertel region forms an arc from north to northeast, where it borders on the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In the south it touches Wagram and then, a little further, around Vienna, Carnuntum.
In 2003, the Weinviertel made headlines when it became the first Austrian wine region to sell exclusively Grüner Veltliner as a regionally typical wine of protected origin, under the designation Weinviertel DAC.
Romans and Cistercians
Thermenregion is directly to the south of Vienna. In keeping with its history as the domain of Burgundian Cistercian monks, this is home to members of the Pinot family: Weissburgunder, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sankt Laurent, all of which are classified as Riedenweine, as well as the two local star varieties, Rotgipfler and Zierfandler. Other grape varieties complete the portfolio for village and regional wines.
Carnuntum, in the far east of Austria, is the eighth winegrowing region in Niederösterreich. In around 200 AD, this was the administrative centre of the Roman province of Upper Pannonia, where vines were also grown. Today, it is mainly Chardonnay, Weissburgunder, Grüner Veltliner, Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch that flourish here. These are classified on all three levels of the quality pyramid.
All of Niederösterreich’s winegrowing districts have remarkable vineyards and equally magnificent wines.
To delve deeper into the subject, visit austrianvineyards.com.
