Wachau is one of Austria's most established and notable wine regions, specializing in dry wines made from Riesling

Riesling

Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...

 and Grüner Veltliner

Grüner Veltliner

Grüner Veltliner is a variety of white wine grape variety grown primarily in Austria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. It has a reputation of being a particularly food-friendly wine...

. Located in Lower Austria

Lower Austria

Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...

 along the Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

, west of Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 and Krems an der Donau, it is one of the western most wine producing regions in Austria with only a few scattered plantings in Tyrol

Tyrol (state)

Tyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts–called North Tyrol and East Tyrol–by a -wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian province of...

 being further west. While most of Austria follows a wine classification systems based on ripeness and harvest

Harvest (wine)

The harvesting of wine grapes is one of the most crucial steps in the process of winemaking. The time of harvest is determined primarily by the ripeness of the grape as measured by sugar, acid and tannin levels with winemakers basing their decision to pick based on the style of wine they wish to...

 must weight

Must weight

Must weight is a measure of the amount of sugar in grape juice , and hence indicates the amount of alcohol that could be produced if it is all fermented to alcohol, rather than left as residual sugar...

 that parallels the German wine classification

German wine classification

German wine classification consists of several quality categories and is often the source of some confusion, especially among non-German speaking wine consumers. The official classification is set down in the wine law of 1971, although some changes and amendments have been made since then...

 system, Wachau wines have a unique classification system. The three classification levels for Wachau wine include Steinfeder for wines up to 11.5% alcohol level, Federspiel for wines between 11.5–12.5% and Smaragd that must have a minimum of 12.5% alcohol level. Despite its renown, the Wachau is a small wine region that usually accounts for only around 3% of Austria's wine production.

History

Archeological evidence suggests that viticulture

Viticulture

Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...

 may have been introduced to the lands around the Danube by the Celtic tribes, most notably the La Tène and Noricum

Noricum

Noricum, in ancient geography, was a Celtic kingdom stretching over the area of today's Austria and a part of Slovenia. It became a province of the Roman Empire...

 federation, prior to the Roman influence that came into the area following conquest around the 1st century BCE. Viticulture continued to flourish under Roman rule, with the introduction of Roman technology and knowledge, even though grape growing was technically banned in Roman territories north of the Alps

Alps

The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

. In the 3rd century, Emperor Marcus Aurelius Probus officially overturned the ban and is reported to have ordered the introduction of several grape varieties to be brought into the territories. It has been speculated that both Grüner Veltliner and Welschriesling

Welschriesling

Welschriesling is an ancient variety of white wine grape, unrelated to the Rhine Riesling, that is grown throughout Central Europe. The origin of Welschriesling is uncertain. The German name "Welschriesling" literally means 'Romanic Riesling', and most of the synonyms in Central Europe are...

 may have been introduced to the region during the Roman period.

The first written account to specifically mention wine production in the Wachau region was the writings of Eugippus in his biography of St. Severin, where the 5th-century Roman wine production at the Roman fort near the town of Mautern

Mautern

Mautern may refer to two municipalities in Austria:* Mautern an der Donau, in Lower Austria* Mautern in Steiermark, in Styria...

 in the Wachau. After the fall of the Roman Empire the Wachau region, along with most of Lower Austria down across the Pannonian Plain, was ravaged by repeated waves of barbarian invasions that took a toll on all forms of agriculture and trade. Wachau's wine industry entered a dark age from which it did not emerge until the time of Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

 in the late 8th and early 9th century. Under the rule of the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

, the monastic influences of the Christian church continued to promote and sustain viticulture in the area. Much as the monasteries mapped out and planted plots along choice lands in the Burgundy and Mosel wine regions, the monks in the Wachau identified vineyard sites along the northern banks of the Danube that would be ideal for viticulture. Many vineyards that exist today in the Wachau can trace their origins to monastic plantings in the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 and Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

 period.

From the 14th–16th century, viticulture in the Wachau hits its peak along with the rest of Lower Austria with plantings an estimated 10 times greater across the land than what exist today. Unfortunately, this period saw the development of a surplus wine lake

Wine lake

The wine lake refers to the continuing supply surplus of wine produced in the European Union. A major contributor to that glut is the Languedoc-Roussillon, which produces over one-third of the grapes grown in France. In 2007 it was reported that for the previous several vintages, European...

 due, in part, to overproduction and competition from neighboring Germany and Hungary. As prices and influence in the important Vienna market was being affected, Wachau producers banded with neighboring Austrian producers to demand protectionist tariffs and eventually an outright ban on any "foreign" wine being imported into Lower Austria. These measures helped stabilize the Wachau wine industry to some degree until the Napoleonic wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

 of the early 19th century, followed by the phylloxera epidemic that would reach Austria later than century, would devastate the vineyards of Wachau. Slowly the wine industry would recover and during the 20th century, the Wachau would gain a global reputation for the quality of its dry Riesling and Grüner Veltliner. Then the 1985 diethylene glycol wine scandal

1985 diethylene glycol wine scandal

The 1985 diethylene glycol wine scandal involved a limited number of Austrian wineries that had illegally adulterated their wines using the toxic substance diethylene glycol to make the wines appear sweeter and more full-bodied in the style of late harvest wines...

, caused by producers outside the Wachau, gained international attention and caused a dramatic drop in sales for Austrian wines across the board.

The Wachau, along with the rest of the Austrian wine industry, responded to the scandal with the development of strict wine laws and quality assurances. Producers in the Wachau already had a head start on this movement with the development a couple years earlier of the Vinea Wachau in 1983, a collaborative association that aimed to distinguish Wachau wine from other Austrian wines. In addition to holding its members to a guaranteed minimum quality level above the requirements of Austrian wine laws, the Vinea Wachau also established its own classification and wine label

Wine label

Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it...

ing system that is still being used for Wachau wines today.

Climate and geography

The boundaries of the Wachau has traditionally been the valley of the Danuabe between the village of Melk

Melk

Melk is a city of Austria, in the federal state of Lower Austria, next to the Wachau valley along the Danube. Melk has a population of 5,222 ....

 and Krems. Along with the Kremstal and Kamtal, the Wachau is one of the coolest wine regions in Austria. The climate of Wachau is influenced by the confluence of several weather systems including cool, moist air from the Waldviertel

Waldviertel

The Waldviertel is the northwestern region of the Austrian state Lower Austria. It is bounded to the south by the Danube, to the southwest by Upper Austria, to the northwest and the north by the Czech Republic and to the east by the Manhartsberg , which is the survey point dividing Waldviertel...

 forests of the northwest with warmer air coming from the east off the Pannonian Plain. This creates a continental climate with marked diurnal temperature variations that include a dramatic drop in nighttime temperatures. Along with the moderating influence of the Danube river, the Wachau has a macroclimate which includes constant air and heat circulation, allowing for sugars and phenolic compounds to build up during the day but acids and aromas to be preserved by the cooler nights. This creates white wines that tend to be high in extract and acidity. Irrigation is often necessary during the peak months of the growing season when yearly rain totals fall below 500 mm (20 in).

The vineyard soils of the Wachau are varied but consist primarily of rock outcrops with occasional layers of loess

Loess

Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...

. The geography of the region is characterized by steep, rocky river banks (as steep as those found in the Mosel and Côte-Rôtie) that have had vineyards terrace

Terrace (agriculture)

Terraces are used in farming to cultivate sloped land. Graduated terrace steps are commonly used to farm on hilly or mountainous terrain. Terraced fields decrease erosion and surface runoff, and are effective for growing crops requiring much water, such as rice...

d into the hillsides. Higher up on the hills, the soils are rich in iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

 deposits and contain mixtures of gneiss

Gneiss

Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...

, granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 and slate

Slate

Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...

. Closer to the river and in the flatter plains areas that dot the region, the soil is more alluvial with loess, sand

Sand

Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...

 and gravel

Gravel

Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...

. The heart of the Wachau district is the Vinea Wachau Nobilis Districtus which includes a strip of vineyard land that stretches 20 km (12.4 mi) from the western extremity of Schwallenbach along the Danube through Spritz

Spritz

Spritz may refer to:* Hair spray* Spritz , an aperitif consisting of wine, sparkling water, and liqueur* Spritz , a term referring to small amounts of carbon dioxide added to wine...

, Weissenkirchen, Dürnstein

Dürnstein

Dürnstein is a small town on the Danube river in the Krems-Land district, in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the Wachau region and also a well-known wine growing area...

, Loiben and finally to Mautern

Mautern

Mautern may refer to two municipalities in Austria:* Mautern an der Donau, in Lower Austria* Mautern in Steiermark, in Styria...

. There are over 900 named vineyard sites in Wachau (known as Rieden). Among the sites that may appear on Wachau wine labels those of the Loibenberg, Dürnsteiner, Kellerberg, Achleiten, Klaus and Spitzer Singerriedel are the most noted.

Grape varieties and wine styles

There are over 1,500 hectares (3700 acres) of vineyards in the Wachau with Riesling being the most widely planted. The area is also well known for its Grüner Veltliners that carry distinctive trademarks of their terroir

Terroir

Terroir comes from the word terre "land". It was originally a French term in wine, coffee and tea used to denote the special characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a certain place bestowed upon particular varieties...

in aroma and flavor profile. Other varieties grown in the Wachau include Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...

 (sometimes called Feinburgunder), Neuburger

Neuburger

Neuburger is a white Austrian wine grape. The grape is a crossing of Roter Veltliner and Sylvaner. As varietal, it generally produces full bodied wines.- Synonyms :...

, Gelber Muskateller, Pinot blanc

Pinot Blanc

Pinot blanc is a white wine grape. It is a point genetic mutation of Pinot noir. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a point mutation in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one cane which produced white fruit....

, Traminer and Sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...

. Riesling is often planted on the most ideal vineyard location along the steep granite and gneiss hillsides near the river while Grüner Veltliners seems to thrive on the loess and sand of the lower banks. The wines are rarely, if even, exposed to new oak or malolactic fermentation

Malolactic fermentation

Malolactic fermentation is a process in winemaking where tart-tasting malic acid, naturally present in grape must, is converted to softer-tasting lactic acid. Malolactic fermentation tends to create a rounder, fuller mouthfeel. It has been said that malic acid tastes of green apples...

 and are typically produced in a fuller bodied, higher extract style that is more similar to the wines of Alsace than of their German counterparts.

Wine classification and labeling laws

Unlike most Austrian wines which follow a classification system similar to Germany (which includes wines labeled based on must weight at harvest such as Spätlese

Spätlese

Spätlese is a German wine term for a wine from fully ripe grapes, the lightest of the late harvest wines. Spätlese is a riper category than Kabinett in the Prädikatswein category of the German wine classification and is the lowest level of Prädikatswein in Austria, where Kabinett is classified in...

, Auslese

Auslese

Auslese is a German language wine term for a late harvest wine and is a riper category than Spätlese in the Prädikatswein category of the Austrian and German wine classification. The grapes are picked from selected very ripe bunches in the autumn , and have to be hand picked...

, etc.), the Wachau has its own classification system for quality wine. In favorable vintages, producers may experience botrytis

Botrytis

Botrytis may refer to:*Botrytis, the anamorphs of fungi of the genus Botryotinia**Botrytis cinerea, a mold important in wine making*Botrytis, the cauliflower cultivar group of Brassica oleracea...

 and can botrytized wines that carry the same classification as their counterparts in other Austrian wine regions—namely Beerenauslese

Beerenauslese

Beerenauslese is a German language wine term for a dessert wine-style late harvest wine. Beerenauslese is a category in the Prädikatswein category of the Austrian and German wine classifications, and is a category above Auslese. Beerenauslese wines, often called "BA" for short, are usually made...

 and Trockenbeerenauslese

Trockenbeerenauslese

Trockenbeerenauslese is a German language wine term for an intensely sweet dessert wine-style wine....

.

The Wachau designations include:

• Steinfeder – The lightest wines which maybe spritzig or lightly sparkling. Under the Austriam Klosterneuburger Mostwaage scale for measuring must weight, grapes harvested for Steinfeder wines must achieve at least 15–17°KMW, not be subjected to chaptalization
  Chaptalization
  Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape must in order to increase the alcohol content after fermentation. The technique is named after its developer, the French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal...
  
   during production and finish with an alcohol level no greater than 11%. The symbol for this class is the stipa pennata
  Stipa pennata
  Stipa pennata, common name feather grass, is a flowering plant in the family Poaceae, which is grown as an ornamental plant for its feathery flowering spikes....
  
  or feather grass that is commonly found planted on Wachau hillsides.

• Federspiel – Made from riper grapes harvested at least 17°KMW and producing wines with an alcohol level between 11–12.5%. Like the other classification, the wines can not be chaptalized. The maximum residual sugar for these wines is 4 g/l. The symbol for this classification is a falcon
  Falcon
  A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....
  
   which pays hommage to the historical pastime of falconry
  Falconry
  Falconry is "the taking of wild quarry in its natural state and habitat by means of a trained raptor". There are two traditional terms used to describe a person involved in falconry: a falconer flies a falcon; an austringer flies a hawk or an eagle...
  
   in the Wachau.

• Smaragd – The ripest, most alcoholic wines that must contain at least 12.5% APV. The maximum residual sugar level for these wines is 8 g/l. This designation was first used in 1986, right after the diethylene glycol scandal and was intended to denote the highest quality level of Wachau wines. All grapes destined for this designation must attain at least 18.2°KMW and all finished wine must be sealed with a long natural cork that is at least 49mm long and branded with vintage year. The wines have to be aged in bottle and not released till after May 1 following harvest though some producers will age their inventory longer. Smaragd wines tend to be the most sought after and critically acclaimed Wachau wines with well made examples from favorable vintages having the potential to age for more than 20 years. The symbol for this class is an emerald lizard that can found sunning itself on the stone terraces along the Danube.

Like other Austrian wines, wines from the Wachau are usually labeled by varietal

Varietal

"Varietal" describes wines made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label. Examples of grape varieties commonly used in varietal wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot...

 with the grape variety listed needing to comprise of at least 85% of the grape variety. Similarly, at least 85% of the grapes from a given harvest must come from the a vintage year on the label.

Vinea Wachau

The Vinea Wachau is an organization of Wachau producers who united in 1983 to create a trade association that will not only promote Wachau wines worldwide but also protect the image and integrity of the Wachau wine region. Using the historical seal of Leuthold I von Kuenring (1243–1313), a local Ministerialengeschlecht or knight of the powerful Kuenringer family, the organization outlined the Vinea Wachau Nobilis Districtus or "heart of Wachau" which included the wine villages where traditionally the best Wachau wine was produced. Today the organization includes more than 200 members, who collectively own more than 85% of the vineyard land in the Wachau.

Members of the Vinea Wachau not only must follow Austria's strict wine laws but also abide by the associations own standards. Only white grapes are permitted for production and the wines must fall in line with one of the three permitted designations—Steinfeder, Federspiel and Smaragd. The wines can not be chaptalized or back-sweetened with süssreserve and the wine can only be sold in three bottle sizes--the standard 750ml bottles, half-bottles of 375ml and 1.5-liter magnums. All wine submitted by members are tasted by a panel for quality assurances with samples of every wine, from every vintage stored at a facility at Spitz so it is available for comparison should any quality control issues emerge.

External links

• Vinea Wachau home page Association of Wachau Producers
• Austrian Wine Marketing Board Wachau wine maps
• Tastes of Austria Vintage chart for several Austrian wine regions include the Wachau