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The UNESCO World Heritage Site Wachau is one of the most beautiful river valleys in Europe and home to some of Austria's best Rieslings and Grüner Veltliners. Anja Hanke reports on wines, landscape, culture and apricots.

The Wachau is one of the best-known wine-growing regions in Lower Austria. The heart of the charming wine and cultural landscape is the Danube valley between the city of Krems and the municipality of Melk, which is known for its Benedictine abbey dating back to the 11th century. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Wachau is one of the most beautiful river valleys in Europe and offers excellent conditions for viticulture.

The renowned wine-growing villages such as Spitz, Dürnstein, Weißenkirchen, Joching and Loiben are mainly located on the left bank of the river, some such as Rossatz and Arnsdorf also on the right bank. In the hilly landscape, mainly white wines thrive, of which especially the Wachau Veltliners and Rieslings are celebrated for their high quality far beyond Austria's borders.

Specific climate brings diverse aromas

Climatically, two influences meet in the Wachau, and their interplay has a decisive influence on the wines: the Atlantic and the continental climate. The varied hilly landscape with its diverse terrain formations, differently oriented, sometimes steep slopes and characteristic stone walls, which warm up during the day and store the temperature, create very different microclimatic zones.

The water of the Danube also has a balancing effect, both in the hot, dry summer months and in the comparatively harsh winter months. Cool wind currents reach the Wachau from the Waldviertel in the north, especially in the period before the harvest, which means that there are considerable temperature differences between day and night. This varied climate along the Danube and in the side valleys of the Wachau is reflected in the varied aromas with their sometimes exotic nuances of the grapes.

Terraces of dry stone walls characterise the Wachau landscape

OeWM Photo Studio Semrad

Steep terraces have served viticulture since the Middle Ages

Besides the climate, it is above all the soils that shape the wines of the Wachau. Over millions of years they have been formed by physical weathering of the rocks as well as chemical processes. In the Wachau, the course of the Danube plays a decisive role. The water has worked its way through gneiss and amphibolite in many meanders. As a result of these processes, the terraces with their crystalline subsoil are today perfectly suited for the cultivation of Riesling. Grüner Veltliner, on the other hand, finds outstanding conditions on the eastern sides of the crystalline rock slopes. There, under the protection of the mountains, fly ash has collected during the ice ages, which is perfect as loess sediment for viticulture. In addition, the Wachau wine landscape is decisively shaped by the stone terraces that were laid out under the patronage of the monasteries as early as the Middle Ages to cultivate the steep slopes.

The terraces, which are used for vine cultivation, are found at an altitude of up to 450 metres above sea level, which is about 250 metres above the Danube. Especially on the mountain slopes, the vines produce only a few grapes in which the ingredients are concentrated. This contributes to the quality of the wines, which are appreciated for their density of flavour and a clear bouquet of the grape varieties.

Wachau DAC requires exclusively hand harvesting

The uniqueness of the Wachau wine-growing region is reflected in the protected designation of origin "Wachau DAC", where DAC stands for "Districtus Austriae Controllatus". This reveals that the wines have a distinctive area characteristic. For wines bearing the attribute "Wachau DAC", hand harvesting is obligatory.

Area-typical wines have been available in three levels since 2022: At the top are the single vineyard wines with special storage potential. limited to Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. These are followed by the local wines, for which the grape varieties Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Neuburger, Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc and Traminer are permitted. The DAC basis is formed by the regional wines which, in addition to the above-mentioned, also permit Frühroten Veltliner, Müller-Thurgau, Muskat Ottonel, Roten Veltliner, Gemischter Satz, Blauburgunder, St. Laurent and Zweigelt, in each case pure or as a blend.

In 2022, the vineyard area in the Wachau totalled 1,324 hectares. White wine varieties dominate with 94 percent, while red wine varieties play a far subordinate role with the remaining 6 percent. Among the white wine varieties, Grüner Veltliner and Riesling are the leaders, cultivated on four-fifths of the total area; they are followed by Zweigelt, Müller-Thurgau, Muscat and Pinot Blanc.

From light "Steinfeder" to noble "Smaragd

For further classification, the Wachau wines have been divided into three categories according to their natural alcohol content by the area protection association Vinea Wachau since the mid-1980s. There is the slender, light "Steinfeder", the elegant, quite powerful "Federspiel" and finally the noble "Smaragd", which likes to mature for a long time in the wine cellars to its full size. The names refer to the feather grass "stipa pennata" ("stone feather"), a term from traditional falconry ("Federspiel") and the emerald lizards ("Smaragd"), which can be found in the Wachau vineyards especially on warm sunny days.

Dürnstein with the ruin where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned

OeWM Klaus-Egle

Wachau - probably the most beautiful river valley in Europe

The beautiful river landscape of the Wachau with its rolling hills and magnificent views also offers attractive opportunities for recreation and enjoyment beyond winegrowing. The kaleidoscope of vineyards, impressive castles and ruins and the majestically flowing Danube has a magic all of its own. If you stop on a bench to enjoy the view on a walk over the hills with a view of the blue ribbon of the Danube, you are also usually rewarded with cheerful birdsong. Autumn in particular, with its play of colours, is an inviting time for hiking tours, cycling excursions or a Danube river cruise.

The Wachau, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000, is a total work of art that also impresses with its cultural richness. Highlights for excursions include the ruins of Dürnstein Castle with a great view, Aggstein Ruin with its old castle walls, the baroque Melk Abbey with its valuable art treasures, Göttweig Abbey and also the old town of Krems with its museums, churches and idyllic alleys.

Culinary delights and apricot specialities

The palate is also spoilt in abundance in the Wachau. From top restaurants to cosy inns and rustic wine taverns, culinary hosts invite you to enjoy regional delights in many places. A speciality is the apricot (known as the apricot in Germany), because in spring the Wachau is like a sea of blossoms. Around 100,000 apricot trees open their buds and lay a pastel-coloured carpet over the land. Above all, apricot dumplings and apricot strudel are at the top of the list of connoisseurs' favourites. But with its fine aroma, the Wachau apricot is also used in jams, brandies, liqueurs and many desserts.

If you are on a gourmet tour, you can stop off in Dürnstein, for example. There, the Schmidl bakery not only offers a tempting apricot spread, but also a delicious Wachauer Laberl. This golden-brown bread made from wheat and rye flour is a crispy, airy speciality baked according to an original recipe dating back to 1905 and is considered a culinary speciality on the banks of the Danube.

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