One of the eight specific wine-growing areas in the Austrian province or generic wine-growing region of Lower Austria. It lies to the east adjacent to the Wachau. Named after the river, the Krems Valley stretches north and south of the Danube and includes the town of Krems, the areas further east and the small wine communities south of the Danube.
History
Vineyards belonging to the diocese of Passau are attested for the Kremstal as early as 973. After the devastation of the migration of peoples, bishops from Salzburg and Bavaria had vineyards cultivated here from the 10th century onwards. More than 40 monasteries around the city of Krems were granted vineyards as a foundation until the 16th century. The French Emperor Napoleon (1769-1821) visited Göttweig Abbey in 1805 before the occupation of Vienna and was enthusiastic about the area and the wine. The Austrian composer and self-confessed wine lover Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) is said to have drawn the inspiration for his "Mariazell Mass" at the same monastery. Strongly connected to the area is the 1000-year history of the Moser winegrowing dynasty. The winegrowing pioneer Laurenz Moser III (1905-1978) from Rohrendorf near Krems introduced the vine training high culture he created in his vineyards from 1929 onwards, which soon became a standard.
Climate & Soils
The predominant soil types are primary rock and loess. The relatively cool and humid Atlantic climate is positively influenced by the Pannonian climate. The deeply cut Danube valley is particularly favoured. In the larger northern part, which belongs to the Waldviertel, lies Krems with the district of Stein with the vineyards Frechau, Goldberg, Danzern, Grillenparz, Hund, Kögl, Marthal, Pfaffenberg, Sandgrube, Schreck and Wieden. Other communities are Gedersdorf (Geppling, Moosburgerin, Reisenthal, Spiegel, Steindl, Tiefenthal, Weitgasse, Wieland, Zehetnerin), Rohrendorf (Gebling, Breiter Rain, Paschingerin, Schnabel, Steinwandl, Wolfsgraben) and Senftenberg (Ehrenfels, Hochäcker, Pellinger, Pfenningberg, Rammeln).
In the southern area on the right bank of the Danube is the famous Benedictine Abbey of Göttweig, founded in 1072. The municipalities are Brunnkirchen and Thallern (Brunnfeld, Frauengrund, Herrentrost, Maring, Satzen, Schwerer Zapfen, Steinhagen), Eggendorf, Furth-Palt, Krustetten, Höbenbach, Hollenburg, Meidling, Oberfucha, Tiefenfucha, Paudorf and Steinaweg (Brunngraben, Eichbühel, Gottschelle, Hahn, Höhlgraben, Oberfeld, Point, Schrötten, Steinbühel, Obere und Untere Zistel, Wolfsberg).
Grape variety list
In 2022, the vineyards covered a total of 2,252 hectares of vines. Compared to 2015 with 2,369 hectares, this was a reduction of 117 hectares (5%). The share of red wine varieties was 15%, the share of white wine varieties 85%. It is dominated by Grüner Veltliner with more than half of the stock, followed by Zweigelt, Riesling and Müller-Thurgau.
