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Thermenregion

Description to Thermenregion

One of the eight specific wine-growing areas in the Austrian province or generic wine-growing region of Lower Austria. It was formed in 1985 by merging the formerly independent wine-growing areas of Gumpoldskirchen and Bad Vöslau. The thermal baths, already known in ancient times, gave the area its name, but in the vernacular it is called "Südbahn" after the railway line built here in the mid-19th century. The area extends from the southern outskirts of the Austrian capital Vienna along a chain of hills to the south of the spa town of Baden.

Thermenregion - Gumpoldskirchen - Deutschordensschloss

History

Austria's oldest vineyard, the Stiftsweingut Heiligenkreuz - Freigut Thallern near Gumpoldskirchen was founded in 1141 by the Cistercians of Heiligenkreuz Abbey. Since the 13th century, the right to serve wine, known as Leitgeben (Leutgeben), has been a tradition. There were rich wine yields in the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 16th and 17th centuries the area was badly affected by the Turkish sieges. The Turkish commander-in-chief Kara Mustapha (1630-1683), who fell ill during the second Turkish siege of Vienna, recovered very quickly in Baden in 1683. Viticulture suffered the heaviest losses because the Turks destroyed many vineyards for religious reasons. In 1760, the Pinot Noir was introduced to the area by the Teutonic Order and began to spread throughout the region into Burgenland. The area is part of the Vienna Basin and is one of the warmest wine-growing regions in Austria. Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1847-1929), the creator of "Everyman", described it as an "immense garden".

Thermenregion - topographische Karte

Climate & Soils

The climate is characterised by dry, hot summers and cold winters. Loamy soils of fine-grained sediments predominate. The often high coarse content is due to consolidated or loose gravels and sands with a high lime content and many remains of mussels, snails and other marine life. Debris-containing slope foot deposits provide drainage and through-warming. In the Steinfeld, poor gravel soils provide excellent conditions for red wine varieties.

Wine-growing communities

A beautiful wine route touches all the important wine-growing communities. The most important are Baden, Bad Vöslau, Brunn am Gebirge, Enzesfeld, Gumpoldskirchen, Guntramsdorf, Hirtenberg, Leobersdorf, Maria Enzersdorf, Mödling, Perchtoldsdorf, Pfaffstätten, Sooß, Tattendorf, Teesdorf, Traiskirchen and Tribuswinkel. Well-known vineyards are Brindlbach, Doctnerin, Eichkogel, Goldeck, Igeln, Kreuzer, Mandelhöhe, Pfarrgarten, Spiegel, Tümpfel and Wiegen.

Grape variety list

In 2022, the vineyards covered a total of 1,872 hectares of vines. Compared to 2015 with 2,196 hectares, this was a reduction of 324 hectares (14.7%). The share of red wine varieties is 57%, the share of white wine varieties 43%. A local speciality is the autochthonous variety Zierfandler (Spätrot), which is blended with the Rotgipfler to create the white wine cuvée Spätrot-Rotgipfler. A number of wine tourism activities are carried out under the name "Zierfandler-Welt". The red wine variety Zweigelt dominates, followed by Grüner Veltliner, St. Laurent, Blauer Burgunder and Rotgipfler.

Grape variety
Austrian
Main name

in Austria
permitted synonyms

Colour

HA
2022

%
2022

HA
2015

%
2015

Zweigelt Blue Zweigelt, Rotburger red 260 13,9 286 13,1
Grüner Veltliner Weißgipfler white 182 9,7 179 8,2
St. Laurent - red 128 6,8 147 6,7
Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir red 111 5,9 110 5,0
Rotgipfler - white 108 5,8 114 5,2
Chardonnay Morillon - not used in Lower Austria white 106 5,6 74 3,4
Blue Portugieser - red 101 5,4 210 9,6
Neuburger - white 98 5,2 195 8,9
Welschriesling - white 84 4,5 92 4,2
White Burgundy Pinot Blanc, Klevner white 76 4,1 124 5,7
White Riesling Riesling, Rhine Riesling white 73 3,9 87 4,0
Zierfandler Late red white 60 3,2 72 3,3
Merlot - red 58,5 3,1 55 2,5
Cabernet Sauvignon - red 53 2,8 57 2,6
Muscat Blanc Yellow M., Red M. / Muscat Blanc white 43 2,3 27 1,2
Blauburger - red 41 2,2 56 2,5
Sauvignon Blanc Muscat Sylvaner white 40 2,1 36 1,6
Müller-Thurgau Rivaner white 26 1,4 42 1,9
Traminer Gewürztraminer, Red T., Yellow T. white 15,1 0,8 22 1,0
Grey Burgundy Pinot Gris, Ruländer white 15 0,8 17 0,8
Roesler - red 14 0,7 12 0,6
Muscat Ottonel - white 13,5 0,7 20 0,9
Blaufränkisch - red 13,5 0,7 26 1,2
Frühroter Veltliner Malvasia white 12 0,6 24 1,1
Syrah Shiraz red 6,3 0,3 7,8 0,4
Cabernet Franc - red 4,4 0,2 3,3 0,2
Bouvier - white 3,5 0,2 4,0 0,2
Muscaris - white 3,3 0,2 - -
Sylvaner Green Sylvaner white 3,3 0,2 7,8 0,4
Roter Veltliner - white 3,2 0,2 3,6 0,2
Scheurebe seedling 88 white 3,2 0,2 2,6 0,1
Rathay - red 2,6 0,1 2,0 0,1
Goldburger - white 2,4 0,1 6,1 0,3
Gold muscatel - white 2 0,1 - -
Souvignier gris - white 1,8 0,1 - -
Rose muscatel red 1,1 0,1 - -
Jubilee Vine - white 0,3 - 0,8 -
Blue Wildbacher - red 0,3 - 0,3 -
Furmint - white 0,1 - 0,1 -
remaining varieties - white/red 90 8,5 66 5,5

WHITE SORT

white

1.064

578

1.194

55

RED SORT

red

808

43

988

45

TOTAL

1.872

2.182

DAC system

As of the 2023 vintage, the last Austrian wine-growing region to introduce the origin-controlled quality level Thermenregion DAC. All other quality wines must be marketed with the origin Lower Austria, the Land wines under the winegrowing region designation Weinland. In addition to the generally valid DAC conditions, special rules apply. There are three levels: Riedenwein, Ortswein (local wine) and Gebietswein(regional wine).

single vineyard wines
The Rieden wines form the top of the quality pyramid:

Local wines
Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) and Zweigelt (Rotburger) are also permitted. The local wines of Thermenregion bear the designation of origin Perchtoldsdorf, Gumpoldskirchen, Tattendorf, Wiener Neustadt and Bad Vöslau. What is new compared to the other DAC areas is that larger wine-growing communities have been created beyond the political local borders. For example, wines from the political cadastral municipalities of Pfaffstätten, Traiskirchen, Guntramsdorf and Mödling can be marketed under the designation "Thermenregion DAC Gumpoldskirchen".

  • Grape varieties (single-varietal or as a cuvée, no rosé): Rotgipfler, Zierfandler, Weißburgunder, Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris), Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, St. Laurent, Zweigelt
  • at least 12.5% alcohol by volume
  • dry or as Auslese, Beerenauslese or Trockenbeerenauslese
  • Submission for the state inspection number from 1 March (dry) or 1 May (sweet) of the year following the harvest.

Regional wines
The grape varieties for "Thermenregion DAC" (without naming the municipality or vineyard) have been extended to include Neuburger, Gemischter Satz and Blauer Portugieser.

  • Grape varieties (single-varietal, cuvée or Gemischter Satz, no rosé): Rotgipfler, Zierfandler, Weißburgunder, Grauburgunder, Chardonnay, Neuburger, Pinot Noir, St. Laurent, Blauer Portugieser, Zweigelt
  • at least 12.0% alcohol by volume
  • dry, without a dominant woody note

Producers

Well-known producers in the wine-growing region Thermenregion are Alphart Karl, Auer Leopold and Helga, Aumann Leopold, Bayer Heribert, Biegler Othmar, Dopler Günther, Dungel Reinhard, Fischer Christian, Gebeshuber Johannes, Gisperg Johann, Grabner-Schierer, Hartl Heinrich, Hartl Toni, Heggenberger, Johanneshof Reinisch, Krug Gustav, Landauer-Gisperg, Loimer Fred, Nigl Georg, Pferschy-Seper, Piriwe, Reinisch Alfred, Schaflerhof, Schellmann, Schlumberger, Schneider Georg, Schwertführer 47er, Schup Gregor, Schwertführer Johann, Stadlmann Johann, Stift Klosterneuburg, Stiftsweingut Heiligenkreuz - Freigut Thallern, Straitz & Straitz, Zierer Harald. A well-known winegrowers' association is Burgundermacher.

Gumpoldskirchen: by Karl Gruber - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, Link
Map and source: © ÖWM

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