DAC

Districtus Austriae Controllatus

This is DAC!

Guaranteed Regional Quality Wines with Protected Designation of Origin

In the cellars of our approximately 150 member estates, classic DAC wines and reserves are created with great expertise, sensitivity, and passionate dedication. Here, on the shores of Lake Neusiedl, the origin of exceptional wines becomes tangible.

Districtus Austriae Controlatus discreet lettering in front of bottle with vine and grapes in hand.

EACH DAC REGION IN AUSTRIA is dedicated to the defining typicity of its area. NEUSIEDLERSEE DAC accordingly designates the particularly authentic character of the regional Zweigelt as well as its fruity and noble sweet Prädikat wines. Individually vinified by each member estate with care, expertise, and passion, archetypal wines with region-wide typicity are created—classically produced or as Reserve—shaped by their unique origin, the UNESCO World Heritage Region of Lake Neusiedl.

Wines shaped by the unique diversity of their origin, individually created through the passion of their winemakers, with a commitment to origin & craftsmanship, quality & typicity.

Neusiedlersee DAC man in tank, rubber boots visible.

Historical map of Comitatus Sopron, presumably before 1800

History

The surprising story of how wine came to the shores of Lake Neusiedl to shape the people here.

ILLMITZ, 1981

Snack during the grape harvest
© Bgld. State Archives Photo Collection, Rudolf Herbert Berger

NEUSIEDL AM SEE, 1975

Reed workers during their lunch break
© Bgld. State Archives Photo Collection, Rudolf Herbert Berger

NEUSIEDL AM SEE, 1935

Motorized sleds “Eisfloh” and “Eisvogel”
© Bgld. State Archives Photo Collection, Stanislaus Wagner

ILLMITZ, 1960s

Market day
© Bgld. State Archives Photo Collection, Rudolf Herbert Berger

BURGENLAND, 1950/60

“Ice Saints” Boniface, Pancras, and Servatius
© Bgld. State Archives Photo Collection, Alois Sedlacek

LAKE NEUSIEDL, 1930s

Fishermen with dragnet
© Bgld. State Archives Photo Collection, Fritz Be

PODERSDORF, 1963

Flood
© Bgld. State Archives Photo Collection, Rudolf Herbert Berger

LAKE NEUSIEDL, 1950s

Boat trip
© Bgld. State Archives Photo Collection, Louis Eschenauer

1074

First documented mention of present-day Lake Neusiedl under the Hungarian designation Stagnum Ferteu.

1864-1870

Last drying out of Lake Neusiedl, use as agricultural land (rice), construction of roads between the lakeside communities (including from Illmitz across the lake to Mörbisch).

1895

Construction begins on the Einserkanal (completed: 1909) for the purpose of draining Lake Neusiedl. Constant silting and sedimentation prevented this project, which is why the additional canals, which were to be named Zweierkanal, Dreierkanal, etc., were never built.

1918

Convening of a conference of "lake stakeholders" under Nicholas IV, Prince Esterházy, and founding of a "Lake Regulation Company" with the goal of complete drainage for agricultural purposes. The project fails due to the end of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the annexation of Burgenland to Austria.

1922

Successful crossing of the two varieties St. Laurent x Blaufränkisch under the name Rotburger (word combination of the color red and the origin Klosterneuburg; renamed Zweigelt in 1975). Today the most widely planted red wine grape variety in Austria with significant distribution in the Neusiedlersee wine region.

1941

Largest documented extent of Lake Neusiedl. Street names such as Seeufergasse in Apetlon still show today how far the lake could extend inland at that time.

1955

Discovery of an underground mineral water lake in the area with the largest mineral water reserves in Europe covering an area of 250 km².

1993

Official founding of Neusiedler See–Seewinkel National Park and merger with Fertő-Hanság National Park (Hungary) to form Austria's first cross-border national park.

2001

The area around Lake Neusiedl is declared a UNESCO World Heritage Region as a landscape "of exceptional and universal value."

2012

NEUSIEDLERSEE DAC henceforth designates—legally enshrined—the special regional typicity of the regional and Austria-wide number one red wine variety: Zweigelt.

2020

NEUSIEDLERSEE DAC status subsequently also for white fruity sweet wines (Spätlese and Auslese) as well as white noble sweet Prädikat wines (Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese) of Neusiedlersee origin.

Two wine glasses with red and white wine from Neusiedlersee DAC, Zweigelt and sweet wine.