Water is a precious resource. Accordingly, it must be handled with care. The Neusiedlersee DAC winegrowers have also made themselves role models in agriculture with a particularly respectful approach to irrigation.

With the support of the federal government, the province and the European Union.

When we say in Austria that we are bathing in luxury, this can be understood quite literally: Our water is among the purest and best in the world. We can truly feel blessed by the earth. At the same time, however, this comes with a sense of complacency that repeatedly stands in the way of protecting this valuable resource. The environmental organization WWF recently formulated the result of years of carelessness as follows: “Only 40% of Europe’s rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands are in good ecological condition. In Austria, 60% of water bodies need to be restored because they are not in good condition. And only 15% of water bodies in Austria are in very good condition. But even these are acutely threatened.”

Nature Park Director as Water Guardian …

The fact is: If we do not take more conscious care of water, we will soon no longer have this luxury in which we currently bathe. A realization that the winegrowers of the Neusiedlersee DAC region reached decades ago. Since then, water protection has been at the top of the priority list for the region’s wine producers. “The winegrowers around Lake Neusiedl work with a particularly water-conserving system, the so-called drip irrigation,” explains Johannes Ehrenfeldner, someone who, due to his profession, watches over the region’s water with eagle eyes: As director of the Neusiedlersee National Park, he is primarily responsible for ensuring that this 97 km² natural paradise remains in balance. He says: “The Seewinkel is a highly sensitive ecosystem as a whole, with large areas designated as European protected areas and even hosting an internationally recognized national park of utmost importance for bird migration.” Accordingly, the topic of water is particularly sensitive in his view.

And precisely for this reason, other forms of irrigation are a real thorn in the expert’s side. “The large-scale cultivation of crops that are not typical for the region and also have an exorbitantly high water requirement to thrive are kept alive with energy-intensive and highly inefficient methods such as conventional overhead irrigation,” he criticizes. Indeed, the bare figures speak a clear language, confirms the Andau winemaker and current Burgenland Wine Princess 2024 Sophie Smoley: “The drip irrigation we use consumes at least 50% less water. In addition, 100% of the water used reaches its destination directly and there is no loss through dispersion.”

Smart Drip Irrigation

This is due to the smart, albeit actually simple, mechanics with which such drip irrigation systems work: A pump, ideally powered by solar energy, draws groundwater—not lake water—to the surface and pumps it through narrow pipes laid along the vine rows. These are fitted with membranes on the inside that enable constant pressure distribution to the farthest end of the hose. The key feature is the many small holes that make the hose permeable at targeted points and from which fine water droplets constantly drip directly onto the roots of the vines. “This creates a so-called onion effect in the soil. That is, first the water seeps deeper down, later it begins to spread to the sides and thus forms a kind of water balloon around the rootstock,” explains the expert.

Important Look to the Future

However, the mindfulness regarding water consumption among the Neusiedlersee DAC winegrowers is not limited to the use of resource-conserving equipment. Rather, it is part of the entire DNA of the wine families living here. Sophie Smoley says: “We use all modern weather forecasting options to dose the irrigation accordingly. We also always know exactly how moist the soils are at the moment, whether they need water at all.” For example, this enabled her in the summer of 2024 to delay the use of the drip irrigation system installed across the entire twelve hectares of the family estate until the peak of the third heat wave in mid-July. In other words: to save maximum water.

In genuine heat periods, the active supply of water is vital for the vines, explains fellow winemaker Franz Schneider from Halbturn: “Basically, the rule is: no life without water. And from a temperature of 32 degrees, the plant switches to survival mode, it stops growing. During this time, drip irrigation is essential to prevent exactly that. Otherwise, the vine would initiate emergency ripening out of fear of death. This in turn means, in the worst case, that grapes do ripen, but only a few and these completely uncontrolled.” A situation that affects not only the yield but also the quality of the berries, as Schneider emphasizes: “Then I have very extract-rich grapes, but whether I want that for my wine, whether it then tastes the way it should taste, I dare to doubt.”

Ultimately, the winemaker’s goal is to bring the grape material that is to ripen into the wine cellar as evenly as possible and with the right balanced dose of ingredients. In order to also fill the bottle with the region-typical notes of Neusiedlersee DAC wines in maximum expression. Thus, the drip irrigation used around Lake Neusiedl is not only meaningful for the environment, but also for the typical taste of the high-quality wines of this region. It therefore contributes its part, especially during the high summer ripening period, to ensuring that the Neusiedlersee DAC wines of origin also achieve the flavor profile assigned to them.

Nature Park Director as Neusiedlersee DAC Fan

An overall concept that also makes nature park director Johannes Ehrenfeldner positively enthusiastic and he summarizes with excitement: “Nothing is wasted here, the water used is rather ‘refined’ by the vines and the resulting wine is, thanks to the respectful interplay of nature and winemaker, a pleasure with a clear conscience.” And as Neusiedlersee DAC Zweigelt or sweet wine, it is also particularly typical of the region.

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NEUSIEDLERSEE DAC.
Unique Zweigelt. Unique sweet wines.
From Austria’s sunny side. A delight for every palate.

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