Traditionsweingut
founding member of the Österreichische Traditionsweingüter
In 1992, an association of vintners called Österreichische Traditionsweingüter was founded primarily to classify the classic vineyards in the winegrowing Danube area. We had started out as an informal group of vintners discussing wine issues and sharing the same opinion that premium wines could not be defined by their must weight only. Even the most brilliant winemakers needed exceptional vineyards to be able to vinify outstanding wines.
For nearly two decades we observed, discussed and analysed our wines and vineyards before taking a joint first step as Traditionsweingüter to amply classify our vineyards.
Thanks to the general development of the DAC regulation (Districtus Austriae Controllatus) we have been able to newly regulate the designation of origin in our winegrowing area along the Danube River. So far, the DAC appellation does not include the names of the vineyards, but we are trying to do pioneer work in this respect.
The first step within the classifying process was to identify those classic single vineyards in every region that qualified for First Growths (Erste Lagen). First Growth wines are marked with the symbol, which is printed right next to the name of the vineyard on every label, price list or catalogue.
The quality of our wines is not measured by their must weight (and therefore content of alcohol) but by their identity, balance, depth, complexity and finesse.
In the classification of 2010, 52 different vineyards were classified as Erste Lagen (First Growths), which initiated an overall classifying process within the Danube area. And it can be assumed that this process will last for another 20 to 30 years.
We try to steadily enlarge the size of the task force of vintners in order to ensure in the long run a possibly broad basis for a generally accepted and finally also legal classification.
Our symbol is protected by copyright and its use is currently restricted to the 36 members of Österreichische Traditionsweingüter and the two grape varieties Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. By doing so we follow the general regulations of the DAC system and take another step ahead at the same time.
The first step within the classifying process was to identify those classic single vineyards in every region that qualified for First Growths (Erste Lagen). First Growth wines are marked with the symbol, which is printed right next to the name of the vineyard on every label, price list or catalogue.
The quality of our wines is not measured by their must weight (and therefore content of alcohol) but by their identity, balance, depth, complexity and finesse.
In the classification of 2010, 52 different vineyards were classified as Erste Lagen (First Growths), which initiated an overall classifying process within the Danube area. And it can be assumed that this process will last for another 20 to 30 years.
We try to steadily enlarge the size of the task force of vintners in order to ensure in the long run a possibly broad basis for a generally accepted and finally also legal classification.
Our symbol is protected by copyright and its use is currently restricted to the 36 members of Österreichische Traditionsweingüter and the two grape varieties Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. By doing so we follow the general regulations of the DAC system and take another step ahead at the same time.
