The Wachau is not one place
On a map the Wachau looks compact: some thirty kilometres of the Danube valley between Melk and Krems. Taste the wines side by side and that turns out to be a rough simplification. Between the coolest and the warmest point there are weeks of difference in when the grapes are picked.
For us that is the most interesting thing about the region. Take the same grape, the same vintage and the same style and you can still end up with two wines that have almost nothing in common. The difference is called place.
Spitz and the Spitzer Graben: the cool end
Spitz sits at the western end and is the coolest part of the Wachau. Cold air falls into the valley from the Jauerling, and the Spitzer Graben opens to the north rather than towards the Danube. Harvest here often starts noticeably later than downstream.
You can taste it. The wines feel leaner and more herbal, often with a very clear acidity and a certain severity that does not charm everybody straight away. If you like tension, there is plenty of it here. The Spitzer Graben is also one of the last strongholds of Neuburger.
Weißenkirchen, Joching, Wösendorf: the broad middle
Around Weißenkirchen the valley widens and the terraces get larger. Joching and Wösendorf belong to it and tend to be named in the same breath, although each has its own signature.
The wines often sit between the extremes: ripe enough for substance, cool enough for drive. If you want to get to know the Wachau without starting at one of its edges, this is a good place to begin.
Dürnstein and Loiben: where it gets warmer
From Dürnstein onwards it gets noticeably warmer. Pannonian air pushes into the valley from the east, most clearly as far as Oberloiben and Unterloiben. The Danube acts as a heat store and evens out the nights.
The wines are accordingly fuller, rounder and approachable earlier. That does not contradict Wachau clarity, it is its warmer expression. Riesling in particular can become very layered here.
Mautern and the right bank
We live in Mautern, so this part is especially familiar to us. The right bank of the Danube is easily overlooked, because the famous postcard vineyards are on the other side. But Mautern, Baumgarten, Hundsheim and, further upstream, Rossatz belong to the Wachau just as much.
There is more loess here and fewer spectacular steep terraces, but also quieter villages and estates that spend less time in the shop window. For a project interested in the smaller names, that is no drawback.
Why we always name the village
When we write about a wine, the village is not decoration. It is often the single most useful piece of information: it explains why a wine feels taut or generous, was picked early or late, gives pleasure immediately or needs time.
The Wachau style terms help, but they do not replace the place. A Federspiel from the Spitzer Graben and one from Loiben are two different matters, even with the same word on the label.