The wine-growing village in the Wachau wine-growing region in Lower Austria was already mentioned in 1347 and is called the "Pearl of the Wachau". The blue tower of the collegiate church is also considered a landmark of the Wachau. Dürnstein also became famous as the place where the English King Richard the Lionheart (1157-1199) was imprisoned. The cadastral municipality of Dürnstein also includes the communities of Oberloiben and Unterloiben, which together make up a vineyard area of about 200 hectares. The mostly very steeply terraced vineyards are located on the slopes of the left bank of the Danube. White wines are produced to 90% mainly from the varieties Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay. Well-known vineyards (excluding those of Unterloiben and Oberloiben) are Heudürr, Höhereck, Hollerin, Kaiserberg (Subriede Lichtensteinerin), Kellerberg (Subrieden Wunderburg, Küss den Pfennig), Liebenberg, Pfaffenberg, Schlossberg, Schütt and Supperin. Flohhaxn, Himmelstiege and Katzensprung are old vineyards or vineyards that no longer exist today and are used as designations for branded wines. Well-known producers are Alzinger, Bäuerl Wolfgang, members of the Domäne Wachau winegrowers' cooperative, Knoll Emmerich, Pichler Franz Xaver, Pichler-Krutzler, Schmidl Theresa, Schwarz Johann and Tegernseerhof.
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