One of the eight specific wine-growing regions in the Austrian federal state or generic wine-growing region of Lower Austria. The Danube flows through it. It stretches along the Danube between Melk and Krems, on whose northern banks many of the mostly terraced vineyards are located. The vineyards are among the steepest vineyards in Austria, 40% of which are fortified with dry stone walls.

The narrow valley along the Danube is only 33 kilometres long, the wine-growing area 15 kilometres. The gateway to the west is formed by the Benedictine Abbey of Melk, to the east it is bordered by the over 1,000-year-old town of Krems. The Wachau was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the "Cultural Landscape" category in 2000; in 2021, the construction of dry stone walls was added to the list of intangible cultural heritage as a traditional craft.
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Thorsten Rahn
Restaurantleiter, Sommelier, Weindozent und Autor; Dresden