Wachau valley becomes Austria's 15th designated wine region

The Wachau valley in Austria has been designated the country’s latest protected winegrowing region, the 15th of its kind.  

The region became a UNESCO world heritage site in 2000 but was already known for its viticulture, with 1,350 hectares of land under vine.  

Wachau wines are classified on three levels: Gebietswein (regional wines), Ortswein (villages wines) and Riedenwein (single-vineyard wines). All wines must be made from hand-harvested grapes in order to be labelled as a Wachau DAC, regardless of their ranking.

In addition, the region already has three classification levels for its wines based on ABV: Steinfeder, Federspiel and Smaragd and these will remain in use.  

The grapes for Gebietswein wines can come from anywhere throughout the 18-mile region and can be produced from 17 permitted white and red grape varieties including Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, Muskateller, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Sankt Laurent. Gemischter Satz and cuvées are also allowed. These wines will bear the name of the region coupled with “DAC” on the label. 

There are 22 designated municipalities in Wachau that can make Ortswein, or village wines, and these can only use the Ortswein label to make single varietal wines, with nine grape varieties to choose from. The classification also requires the wines to have “little or no perceptible cask tone”.  

Riedenwein is the top ranking, and . Grüner Veltliner and Riesling are the permitted grapes. The region has 157 precisely defined vineyard sites that can use this classification for wines made from Grüner Veltliner and Riesling, and the wines must have “little or no perceptible cask tone”.  

“With the Wachau, we can now welcome another important member to Austria’s DAC family”, said Chris Yorke, managing director of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. “In doing this, Austria’s wine industry has taken a further step on the path of origin-based marketing. This has proven itself effective for seventeen years now, and has also become recognised internationally”.