If vineyards could talk, exciting discussions would be on the agenda in the Krems Valley. After all, the 2,243 hectares of vineyards are spread across different areas: the picturesque twin towns of Krems and Stein, the more easterly areas, and the small wine villages south of the Danube around Stift Göttweig. Unifying elements are Grüner Veltliner and Riesling as representatives for the area - since the 2007 vintage under the designation "Kremstal DAC" - and the message of art and culture. In the old (wine) cultural city of Krems, the wine reference is noticeable everywhere. It has lived up to its position as the image bearer of Austrian wine culture for a long time: historically with old vineyards and evidence of the great winemaking tradition, and from today's perspective with young, successful winemakers as well as an innovative cooperative and a modern viticulture school. Geologically related to the Wachau region to the west, primary rock weathering soils predominate in the city and its immediate surroundings, exemplified by the well-known Steiner Pfaffenberg or Steiner Hund sites with an elegant, mineral wine type. Very distinctive wines also come from Senftenberg and the surrounding small wine villages that stretch along the Krems River, which gives the area its name. The vineyards to the east of the city are quite different, thus producing rounder, fuller-bodied wines. The massive loess terraces in the wine villages of Rohrendorf - where the cradle of the wine growing pioneer Prof. Dr. H. C. Lenz Moser, known far beyond the borders, stood - and Gedersdorf lend the landscape a very special charm. South of the Danube lie Furth-Palt, Krustetten, Höbenbach, Hollenburg, Oberfucha and Tiefenfucha, overlooked by the widely visible Göttweig Abbey with its Benedictine monastery founded in 1072. In this part of the wine growing region, many small Heurigen establishments also contribute to preserving the quaint and down-to-earth character. Similar to the neighbouring wine growing regions of Wachau and Kamptal, the Kremstal is also strongly influenced by climatic tensions: cool, moist influences from the nearby Waldviertel meet warm, dry ones from the Pannonian Plain in the east. The deeply cut Danube valley is particularly favoured by the temperature regulating effect of the large expanse of water. Juicy, finesse-rich white wines, especially Grüner Veltliner and Riesling, but to a lesser extent also dense, expressive reds, characterise the area, whose winemakers are distinguished by great site awareness - as a way of realising diversity on a small scale.
