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The winegrowers of the "WienWein" group have upgraded twelve vineyards in Wien to "Erste Lage". They are so favoured by their "terroir", i.e. the soil composition and the microclimate, that they deserve the predicate, the wineries announced. Starting with the 2017 vintage, the wines from these areas will be labelled "Erste Lage" on the bottles.
For quite some time, the winemakers of WienWein had been pursuing the goal of establishing a site classification for the wine-growing region Wien according to international standards. "The origin is the decisive quality criterion of a wine," Fritz Wieninger from the Wieninger winery describes the idea, "the site decides on character, ripening potential and all aromatic characteristics". His colleague Thomas Huber from the Fuhrgassl-Huber winery adds: "Wine lovers are increasingly looking for authentic wines with a clear origin." Gerhard J. Lobner from Weingut Mayer am Pfarrplatz emphasises: " We want to put Viennese viticulture on a stable footing in the long term in order to remain internationally competitive."
In a first step, only the vineyards of WienWein members were classified. However, it is open to every Viennese winery to join the project. The requirements are strict: the selected sites must not only provide first-class geological and climatic conditions, but also "prove over at least three years that the grapes grown there have quite extraordinary wine qualities". So far, only sites on which Wiener Gemischter Satz, Grüner Veltliner, Riesling and Pinot Blanc grow have been classified. Sites with red varieties have not yet been classified.
(uka / Photo: ÖWM - Armin Faber)