Following on from the Weinviertel, Mittelburgenland and Traisental, the Kremstal region (Krems valley) is now the fourth wine-growing region to join the ranks of Austrian DAC regions. It is an interesting region with very diverse sites and soils, but also has many aspects in common in terms of the Danube and the Pannonian climatic influences. In addition it has a wine culture going back mire than a thousand years, and was for a long time an important region supplying the gourmets and wine-lovers of the large imperial city of Vienna, and indeed for a long time was a region that exported to the rest of Europe.

The chairman of the Kremstal DAC committee, Sepp Mantler

Karl Bajano: For the information of our readers I want to state at the outset that I have known and respected Sepp Mantler for more than 25 years, and for that reason I will be using first-name terms (”Du” in German) throughout this interview. Of course, I am particularly pleased that I am now able to interview him as co-founded and first regional chairman of the new Kremstal DAC region. His wine estate, the Weingut Mantlerhof , is one of the best and best-known estates of the region, with a very long tradition, he is also a member of the „Traditionsweingüter” association, and that leads me straight to my first question:

You were already a co-founder of the Traditionsweingüter association, have been very involved in the matter of classifying vineyard sites, and you successfully run quite a large wine estate, which includes some general farming activities, one would have thought that that is enough to keep you busy for two lifetimes, What possessed you to take on this new position, which will not be easy, and will involve a lot of work?

Sepp Mantler: Well, I did not actually found the Traditionsweingüter association, although naturally I was one of the proponents and a founder member. And I happen to believe that one should try to achieve a few things in one’s lifetime (laughs). And the matter of the region, that is just one of those dreams that any serious wine producer should be fighting for with all his heart. If you can do something for your region, basic ground-turning work, then that is an honourable objective, far removed from just trying to make big bucks. Of course it is also a difficult task, mainly because of the many diverse interests and hopes that have to be coordinated. Producers such as Malat or Nigl are not really dependent on the name of the region, as their names already have a very good reputation. But many other producers need the backstop of a renowned region, on which they can then build their own personal image.


Is the Kremstal wine-growing region, based on its apparent homogeneity, and I speak of the loess soils here, particularly predestined for DAC status?

I tend to see that in much more detail. It was an interesting learning experience for me to discover that the region is actually not particularly homogenous. If you approach the region from Vienna, upriver on the Danube, then the region does look fairly homogenous, as the belt of loess stretches from the beginning to further than the Krems river. But it was like discovering a new continent when I started looking more closely at the south of the wine-growing region. The city of Krems with some of its suburbs extends far beyond the other bank of the Danube, and the expositions there are different to what they are north of the Danube, with north-north-easterly slopes, some areas are flat, and the soils are different too, such as decomposed conglomerate soils, for example. Then we have the Krems valley as such, where we have mainly crystalline soils, such as amphibolite and paragneis, which produce harder, more steely wines.


Where exactly is that?

That is pretty much everything to the north of Krems, in the direction of Langenlois. Senftenberg would be the central town here.

View from the "Cru" Pfaffenberg over the city of Krems, to the left and downriver on the Danube are the major loess sites of the Krems valley

Who produces wines in the region, are there any names that are already well-known?

Sure, there are many more producers than most people would think. The Weingut Nigl  and Weingut Proidl  estates, but also Franz Türk  and Peppi Schmid   are the best-known, but as I mentioned, there are many more good producers out there. Seen that way, we are a region that is markedly diverse, but with the common factor that our wines are quite opulent in the background, which is a result of the obvious influence of the Pannonian climate. This is in contrast to the Wachau region upriver from Dürnstein, while the Loibner Scheibe site tends to show a similar style to ours (laughs a little).


But nobody would think that this part of the Wachau region is any different.

Naturally, and that is fine, too. That also shows up the decisive point we are focussing on with the Kremstal DAC. It is extremely important that the Kremstal region should find its own identity.


No doubt about that. But it still raises the question as to why, given the wide diversity of wine styles in the region, one has taken the decision to combine all these facets in a single region?
 
Not least because the Kremstal is a region that has developed historically as a legally defined region. This is something separate from the name of the region, which has changed so often that I have not even stated it on the label in recent times. It started with the term „Krems”, which as of 1985 was changed to „Kamptal-Donauland”, without anybody being asked, and then, when nobody was really happy with this, was changed again to „Kremstal”, which still apples. The region was thus renamed three times in a period of 20 years. That is about the worst thing one can do, it leads to a lack of continuity and of the profile connected with this.


I must admit I was not really aware of this, I think mainly because I have always identified the region with individual producers.

Just so. But to have the region establish its profile only in terms of the fact that it ist he region to the east of the Wachau region really is not enough, this would, in fact, be counterproductive (laughs). It is high time the region concentrated on its own interests. It is no coincidence that the slogan of the Kremstal DAC is: „Kremstal - the high culture of wine”. Of course that will not be easy, if for no other reason than that our major producers, unlike the situation in, say, the Kamptal, have grown beyond the borders of the wine-growing region. That starts with the wine cooperative, where grapes are sourced naturally from Krems and the environs, but also from the Traisental, the Kamptal and the Weinviertel regions. In that respect the cooperative correctly uses the name Krems, and not Kremstal, or Krems valley. The next big player is Lenz Moser, who concentrates strongly on the Weinviertel and the Burgenland region, not to forget the SPAR group, which also owns somewhere between 30 and 50 ha of vineyards here, but also does not concentrate on specific regional designations. All these large players had no primary interest in really bringing across the Kremstal wine-growing region.


That doesn’t exactly make the task any easier...

That’s right. But of course there are also quite a number of well-known and established producers and, and that is very important, quite a number of very active, growing producers who are on the way up in terms of quality. For those matters we have the IK, the interprofessional committee, which should actually be known as the RK, in line with the legal designation „Regional Wine Committee”. Its function is to be active on behalf of the region. In addition, the Krems valley has a really high level of viticulture. All that should be and will be strongly reflected in the regional image.


Where do you see the points that need to be projected?

The region has lost some of its presence in recent times, not least because of the strong neighbouring regions such as Wachau and Kamptal. We have to emancipate ourselves, in everybody’s interest. After all, the Wachau is also in a difficult position, as its main town is located in the Krems valley. The Wachau is after all a term used for a landscape that stretches along the vally of the Danube from Melk to Krems. The „Wachauer Filmfestival” for instance naturally takes place in Krems, as does the „Wachauer Volksfest”. We are thus involved in a sort of enforced relationship with the Wachau region, which is by no means an unhappy one, all the more reason for us to consider the interests of our region. Our landscape is different, it opens up and shows soft contours, the climate is slightly different, and our character, too, is a little different, we are still lacking in the healthy self-image the Wachau has (laughs). We simply have to establish a correct and unmistakeable profile for ourselves.

Krems with the Pfaffenberg site as seen from the southern bank of the Danube

That certainly seems attainable, particularly if one considers the excellent viticultural conditions available here. To turn to another question: for how long has the Regional Committee been in existence?

We are currently in our second period, five years have elapsed. My predecessor Gerald Malat did a lot of sterling work during that time. There was even a suggestion to return to the name of „Krems” for the region, but in the end there were several reasons for sticking with „Kremstal”, although there are two areas that the term refers to. There is a tourist region known as Kremstal in Upper Austria, and naturally the valley of the Krems river.


I personally do not feel that is all that important. I think the name points out that while Krems is the main town, the wine-growing region is considerably larger than the city limits of Krems.

In addition, the Krems river, which flows towards the Danube at an asymptotic angle, flows through the communal area of Rohrendorf, thus influencing a large part of the region, a fact that many may not be aware of. Krems itself stretches much further than to the Danube, for example Hollenburg is a suburb of Krems, even though it lies at a distance of 12 km, and on the other bank of the river.


I would now like to turn to the wines we can expect to see. If one looks at the DAC regions proclaimed so far, Weinviertel, Traisental and Mittelburgenland, then these are relatively, and I stress relatively, homogenous. I consider this to be a benefit, it does not restrict the diversity of wines made. However, according to what you have said, it will hardly be possible to achieve this type of homogeneity within the framework of the Kremstal DAC?

What we are presenting are the two dominant, historical key grape varieties of the Kremstal region, Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. We are talking about the wines that are submitted for an official testing number, wines of which one can expect that they will be bottled in the region. At this level, Grüner Veltliner accounts for 61%, and Riesling for around 10%. The remainder is made up by Zweigelt 13%(!) and Müller-Thurgau at 10%. I do not know myself where that actually stands. Perhaps the available statistics are also a little out of date, and do not yet reflect recent trends. Also worth mentioning are the Pinot grapes, which together have a share of around 7%. These figures show quite clearly why the varietal selection was made as it was.

A moderate sloping site at Furth/Palt with the Kloster Göttweig abbey, the architectural jewel of the southern Krems valley

How is that going to work in practice? A Grüner Veltliner from loess soil, one from Furth/Palt, one from the Krems valley. How should we try to imagine that within the framework of a DAC tasting?

I believe that indeed the diversity of the Kremstal wines will be much greater than that of, for instance, the Traisental wines. That region has probably the most homogenous slopes and expositions of all wine-growing regions, just about everything is pointed towards the southeast, basically speaking a really compact area. The strong diversification evident in the Kremstal region means it will not be possible to expect a single style to express the whole region. Naturally there will be a fairly large group of wines of similar character, wines that are flavourful and tasty, mainly those from the homogenous loess sites between Krems and Gedersdorf. Then there will be a style typical of the silica-rich soils in the Krems valley, similar perhaps to the wines from the stony western regions of Krems, almost certainly very different from the cool styles with primary aromas from the southern bank of the Danube. We will not, and do not want to squeeze the Grüner Veltliner into an artificially tight corset. That will not be easy for the taster, and is a fact that has to be carefully communicated by us.


Now that sounds really interesting.

To be honest, I do not even have a good overview of what is going on in terms of Riesling. There are really some discoveries waiting to be made there. But I am not worried. After all, we have a very strong neighbour, where there are also major differences in terms of the varietal expression, and that is a fact very much appreciated by both amateur and professional tasters alike.


How many producers will be joining right from the word Go?

At some stage there will be a real suction effect, of that I am convinced, but I also believe that even at this early stage there are no real obstacles or objections to joining and promoting the Kremstal region. In our case it will have to be primarily the bottle label that carries the message, as a very small region we do not have a lot of financial resources, and thus also only limited marketing and advertising opportunities. For us, the inherent quality and the style of the wines, the high level of viticulture as well as the undoubted attraction and tradition of the city of Krems and its environs will have to act as permanent promotional media.


Elisabeth Rathbauer: Tell us more about the initial marketing and acceptance.

(Laughs) With the 1st of January being a public holiday, a number of producers submitted their wines for classification on the 2nd of January, the first possible day. Using that as a guideline, things are looking good.


How does the selection procedure work? Who decides which wine is a DAC and which not?

I am a great supporter of a liberal approach. Naturally the wine must be vinified exclusively from grapes sourced in the region, and overall the wine just has to fit the bill, that is obvious. Seriously, everything is run according to the legal regulations, the most important thing is that any potential DAC wine must fit the profile of a reference wine. I must stress we are looking at a reference wine, not an average wine. In any case, the wine must already have complied with the qualitative criteria of the quality wine testing procedure. This means there is also room for some individualistic wines, which I believe is a good thing. What has to be complied with very specifically is what I would like to call the classical mid-range. Naturally that applies not to quality but to alcohol content. This means there are limits on the alcohol content, a lower level in any case, but also an upper limit at 12,5%. In other words, the Kremstal DAC stands for an easy-drinking, light to medium-bodied style of wine. For those who prefer full-bodied wines, they can always choose a Reserve, the „normal” DAC will always be classic, approachable and not too heavy.


Will the Kremstal DAC already be represented at the forthcoming ProWein trade show in Germany? And if so, how?

Naturally quite a number of wines produced by members under the new regulations will be present, even though the show is yet again taking place at quite an early date. However, there will hardly be any opportunity to organise a communal stand, as there are already so many other things going on, with associations from the region, or partly related to the region. These include, for instance, the Kremstaler Konvent, Circa Montem, Original Kremser Wein, the loess producers association „losgelösst”, the Traditionsweingüter, Vinovative, that means we have some split loyalties (laughs). What you can see, however, is that there have been concerted efforts for quite some time to establish an own identity, not least because there has in the past not been a strong regional identity, thus the time was more than ripe for the establishment of the new DAC. This is not about establishing a hierarchy of quality, but of truly creating and consolidating the name of a region with a certain breadth of production. Add to this the single vineyard culture practised by some wineries, as well as the additional Reserve class on the wine side, an important addition with equal status.