Domäne Wachau is the rarest of things -
a producer of significant volume with a strong focus on quality and
produces some of Austria's finest wine.
Soil vitality and a healthy ecosystem are key to great wines.
The 250 vintner families that they work closely with, cultivate
vineyards; often in extreme conditions and in close collaboration
with winemaker Heinz Frischengruber. They insist that all growers
follow a complex, but sustainable and environmentally conscious
cultivation programme, encouraging green cover between vines,
biodiversity in the vineyards and a canopy management system that
works with each year's weather conditions.
The Danube rover flows through the stunning Wachau Valley which
is the coolest wine growing region of Austria. The combination of
warm days, cool nights and ancient rocky soils create wines of
precision, minerality and fantastic purity of fruit.
Steep, terraced vineyards hug the Danube which moderates
the continental climate, preserving vital flavour and acidity in
the grapes. Loess and Gneiss soils give high levels of minerality
and extract.
Much of the recent success at Domäne Wachau can be attributed to
the dynamic young team at the winery headed up by Roman Horvath
MW and winemaker Heinz Frischengruber.
The team have also made a vital contribution to the preservation
of the Wachau Valley as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, made so
as vine cultivation here can be traced to Celtic times. The
dramatic, steep, terraced vineyards make it a challenging place to
grow vines and, without their efforts, many of the vine growers
would have abandoned the vineyards, losing in the process centuries
of tradition as well as many of Austria's top viticultural
sites.
The result of their efforts are wines of exceptional aroma,
texture and length that combine drinkability with substance,
structure and aromatic expression.