The Neusiedlersee not only acts as a gigantic heat reservoir, creating a microclimate that is so defining for the entire region and its vegetation. The permanent winds around the lake and its salt content give the surrounding vines special characteristics that can indeed be tasted in the bottled wine…

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

When wine enthusiasts discuss fine wines among themselves, it can sometimes sound unusual to outsiders. A red wine quickly tastes of cassis and red fruits. A white wine soon of apple, citrus, and elderflower. And both white and red wines can—ta-da—be salty. In fact, subtle salty notes occur particularly often in certain regions; this is also often used to describe a certain degree of minerality in the wine. However, the question arises: How does salt get into a sweet fruit? In the region around the Neusiedlersee, part of the answer is visible to everyone, if you know where to look: The lake does it! But more on that later.

The Neusiedlersee is unique. Its exceptional microclimate makes the entire wine region—above all, however, its particularly origin-typical Neusiedlersee DAC wines—a growing area with very special characteristics. Geographically speaking, it lies in the heart of the Pannonian climate zone. Hot, dry summers with moderate precipitation and cold winters with little snow are typical of this zone.

The Neusiedlersee as a Natural Wine Wonder

The Neusiedlersee shows its influence on nature and vegetation especially in summer. During these warm months, it stores the hot daytime temperatures on its total water surface of 320 square kilometers. It thus becomes a gigantic heat reservoir that, when the sun sets behind the Schneeberg in the distance, generously releases the cooled air temperature to its surroundings. The permanent winds from the northwest prevailing in the region—sometimes gentle, sometimes stormy—distribute these gently cooled air currents into the Pannonian lowlands, far into the neighboring Hungarian countryside.

Through this unique cooling process, very special fruit-acid balances can be formed in the wine grapes throughout the entire ripening period. After the wine harvest, the many award-winning winemakers dedicate themselves to these flavor nuances with care, knowledge, and passion every year. They know the special quality that can enter the wine in this way when one masters the craft.

However, the gigantic heat battery also has a long-term effect—well into autumn. When the outside temperatures begin to fall, the lake slowly releases all its warmth again, a little each day over a period of several weeks. This means that the air layers near the ground on its shores simply cool down less strongly and rapidly than in the rest of Burgenland—more gently, in fact.

An effect that usually lasts until October. And thus provides the vines, but also all other agricultural crops in the area, with a particularly long late summer. This allows the vines, for example, to experience an exceptional ripening finale shortly before their respective harvest. This is where much of the balance between fruitiness and spice is created, which makes the wines of this region so unique, so enjoyable—above all the particularly origin-typical Neusiedlersee DAC Zweigelt.

A Fungus That Makes Sweet Wine Producers Happy

This heat donation from the lake and the increased humidity on its shores has yet another effect: They allow a special noble fungus to thrive almost uniquely, the so-called Botrytis cinerea. When the moist air envelops the vines in the form of ground fog towards the end of September and in October, the grapes that have not yet been harvested are affected by Botrytis cinerea, often referred to as “noble rot.” A phenomenon that exists in only a very few places worldwide.

What makes botrytis so special is that, in combination with several other factors, it causes the grapes to be finely perforated. As a result, part of the moisture otherwise trapped in the grapes evaporates. And this—to put it simply—means that the grape already reaches the preliminary stage of a raisin on the vine. This means that the flavor of the grape is ultimately distributed over less liquid and thus develops sweetness. When these grapes are finally harvested late in autumn and wine is made from them, it is many times sweeter. High-quality sweet wines—such as Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese—can basically only be produced in this way. Sweet wine regions of world-class stature include Sauternes (Bordeaux), Tokaj (Hungary), and the Neusiedlersee (Seewinkel and Rust).

The Salt in the Wine for Everyone’s Palate Pleasure

Salty notes are of course hardly detectable in these dessert wines due to the high natural sweetness. However, they are very much present in the darling of the regional winemakers as well as domestic and foreign wine fans: the particularly origin-typical Neusiedlersee DAC Zweigelt. The reason for this lies literally before our eyes: Not only does Europe’s largest mineral water reserve lie beneath the Neusiedlersee, but the lake water itself has a natural, above-average salt content, which is carried overground by the permanent winds. The underground salty-mineral water reserves emerge independently in the form of smaller and larger salt and soda lakes due to tectonic fault lines and under natural pressure; especially in the national park area, a natural landscape depression.

And now an exciting process begins in summer—that is, during the ripening period of the vines: Due to the heat, the salt lakes repeatedly dry out. What remains are salty residues, which in turn are stirred up and carried away by the prevailing northwest winds. Into the land. Into the vineyards. Here the salt is then absorbed by the soil and vines. In such a small dosage that it serves the plants as fertilizer. But in sufficient quantity that wine lovers can taste it in the fine wines made from the grapes of these vines. And so the salt does exactly what it should: naturally perfect the taste of the wine. Particularly that of the origin-typical Neusiedlersee DAC wines that thrive here, which are made by the regional winemakers from Austria’s number one grape variety, Zweigelt, for red wine, as well as the unique sweet wines.

NEUSIEDLERSEE DAC. The Lake and Its Wine.

This clip illustrates how the microclimate of the Neusiedlersee shapes the entire region and vegetation and, in combination with the permanent winds around the lake, gives the surrounding vines special characteristics. Simply click PLAY!

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Neusiedlersee DAC.
Unique Zweigelt. Unique Sweet Wines.
From Austria’s Sunny Side. For Everyone’s Palate Pleasure.

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