Lower Austria/Niederösterreich

The federal state of Lower Austria with the capital St. Pölten is located in the east of Austria. With an area of around 19,200 km² it is the largest federal state. It encloses the Austrian federal capital ViennaIt borders the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia to the northeast, Burgenland to the southeast, Styria to the south and Upper Austria to the west.

Even before the soldiers of Emperor Marcus Aurelius Probus (232-282) brought wine presses to the Danube, the indigenous people pressed the so-called Markomannen wine. Viticulture was strongly influenced by Vienna, the monastery of Klosterneuburg, and the monasteries of Göttweig in the Kremstal and Melk in the Wachau, which were founded by the Benedictines. These were centres of spiritual and cultural life and also strongholds of exemplary wine culture. The former Dinstlgut in Loiben (Wachau), whose origins date back to the 9th century, also had a great influence. The noble family of the Liechtenstein family was founded in the 13th century. They acquired large areas of vineyard and introduced advanced winegrowing methods. In 1636 a cellar regulation was issued, in which among other things the "Zuberaithung von Schwebl" (sulphur) was precisely regulated. The Hofkellerei Foundation Prince Liechtenstein Winery still exists today.

Winegrowing areas of Lower Austria

There are different climatic conditions (Atlantic, continental) and soil types (gravel, sand, loess, loam and primary rock). This also results in a great variety of wines. By far the largest wine-growing area, the Weinviertel, comprises more than half of the vineyards and is therefore divided into three large areas: Falkenberg, Mailberg and Retz. Together with the two generic wine growing areas Burgenland and Vienna lower Austria forms the wine growing region Weinland, which serves as an indication of origin for regional wines. The generic wine growing region of Lower Austria is divided into eight specific wine growing regions. For all quality wines, the label must show the generic wine growing region of Lower Austria; for DAC wines, the DAC designation must also appear on the label. The wine-growing regions with the 2015 vineyards (in brackets dié values 2009):

• Carnuntum - 907 ha (910 ha)
• Kamptal DAC - 3,907 ha (3,802 ha)
• Kremstal DAC - 2,369 ha (2,243 ha)
• Thermal spa region - 2,182 ha (2,196 ha)
• Traisental DAC - 815 ha (789 ha)
• Wachau - 1,345 ha (1,350 ha)
• Wagram - 2,720 ha (2,452 ha)
• Weinviertel DAC - 13,858 ha (13,356 ha)

List of vine varieties

Lower Austria is a classic white wine region, accounting for around three quarters of the wine produced. The province supplies over 60% of the Austrian wine production. In 2015, the vineyards covered a total of 28,146 hectares of vineyard area. Compared to 2009 with 27,128 hectares, this was an increase by almost 4%. The share of white wine varieties amounts to 75.3%, the share of red wine varieties to 24.7%. The clearly dominant grape variety is the Grüner Veltliner with almost half of the stock:

Producers

Well-known winegrowers' associations or winegrowers' cooperatives in Lower Austria are Falkensteiner Berggericht, Kamptal Klassik, Mailberg Valley, premium wineries Weinviertel, thermal wineries, traditional wineries Austria, Vinea Wachau Nobilis Districtus, Wagramer Selektion, Weingüter Retzer Land and Weingüter Wagram. The wineries are listed under each of the eight wine growing regions.

Map: © ÖWM