Weinviertel DAC – whose name translates as "wine quarter" – is an appellation in Niederösterreich (Lower Austria). It is by far the largest Districtus Austriae Controllatus wine region in Austria. It was also the first Austrian wine region to be given that title, in 2002, with a DAC Reserve designation added in 2009.
The designation applies only to white wines from the Grüner Veltliner Grape variety.
There are around 6700 hectares planted to the variety in this zone, just under half the total of Weinviertel Vineyards. It is also about half the national (and therefore global) total for the grape variety.
- Minimum 12 percent Alcohol by Volume vs 13 percent
- Maximum 6 grams per liter residual sugar vs completely dry
- No Botrytis or oak aromas allowed vs subtle botrytis or oak aromas allowed
- Submission to Tasting commision from January 1 of year after harvest vs from March 15
Weinviertel is Austria's most important wine region in terms of both its area under vine and the quantity of wine it produces. With more than 13,800 hectares (34,100 acres) planted, its Vineyard area is 10 times that of Austria's most famous region, Wachau, and about the same as the entire state of Burgenland.
Outside of the DAC title, the region also produces fresh, citrusy white wines made from Riesling, and increasing quantities of bright, spicy red Zweigelt. However, non-DAC wines are labeled with the Niederösterreich designation.
Zweigelt holds a distant (but steadily closer) second place in the DAC, outnumbered four to one by Grüner Veltliner. Third equal are Welschriesling and Blauer Portugieser – both as traditional as they are unfashionable, and both declining rapidly as they are replaced with more internationally popular varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc and, particularly, Muscat.
White muscat is a white grape variety of Greek origin. Present in several Mediterranean vineyards, it has several synonyms such as muscat de Die, muscat blanc and frontignac. In France, it occupies a little less than 7,000 ha out of a total of 45,000 ha worldwide. Its young shoots are downy. Its youngest leaves are shiny, bronzed and scabrous. The berries and bunches of this variety are all medium-sized. The flesh of the berries is juicy, sweet and firm. Muscat à petits grains has a second ripening period and buds early in the year. It is moderately vigorous and must be pruned short. It likes poor, stony slopes. This variety is often exposed to spring frosts. It fears mildew, wasps, grape worms, court-noué, grey rot and powdery mildew. Muscat à petits grains is used to make rosé wines and dry white wines. Orange, brown sugar, barley sugar and raisins are the known aromas of these wines.
sparkling wines from the region of Weinland go well with generally quite well with dishes of lamb, pork or mature and hard cheese such as recipes of doner kebab, country-style snow peas or irish tartiflette.
On the nose in the region of Weinland often reveals types of flavors of tree fruit, red fruit or microbio and sometimes also flavors of floral.
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