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Two more wine-growing regions have joined the Association of Austrian Traditional Wine Estates (ÖTW): Wien and Carnuntum. This brings the number of member wineries to 62. In a press conference at the VieVinum in Wien, the new structure with an umbrella association and three regional associations was presented. Until now, the association comprised 36 wineries in the Danube region (Traisental, Kamptal, Kremstal, Wagram). The Association of Traditional Wine Estates was founded in 1992 and develops the process and system of classifying vineyard sites.
In future, the umbrella organisation of the ÖTW will be under the responsibility of Michael Moosbrugger (Schloss Gobelsburg), who is also the chairman of the Danube Regional Association. In Wien, six wineries under the chairmanship of Fritz Wieninger have prepared their site classification in recent years and are now starting membership with a total of twelve Erste Lagen.
The ÖTW Carnuntum Regional Association is chaired by Gerhard Markowitsch. Twenty wineries have joined the association here. In Carnuntum, scientific geological research has been undertaken for about ten years, and this has been incorporated into the evaluation process. The Carnuntin winegrowers, however, want to take their time with the classification of the vineyards. Possibly this will even happen at the same time as the foundation of a DAC Carnuntum, which is also currently being planned.
Currently, 72 vineyards - 60 on the Danube, twelve in Wien - are classified as "ÖTW.Erste Lage". However, the work on defining the "Große Lagen" still takes time. The results are expected "within the next ten years".
(uka / Photo: Herbert Lehmann)