Kamptal is a region in Lower Austria or Niederösterreich in Austria. It centres on Langenlois, the country’s largest (and arguably most renowned) wine producing town. Kamptal gets its name from the river Kamp, that flows directly through it, and is also home to Austria’s largest wine-producing town, Langenlois.

Key towns: Gobelsburg.  Langenlois. | Kammern. | Strass. | Zöbing.

Vineyard area: With a vineyard area of 3,802 hectares, Kamptal is one of the most successful wine regions in Austria, and boasts a high proportion of outstanding, quality wine producers. Culture and tourism also play a significant role and effective from the 2008 vintage, the Kamptal DAC defines wines made from Grüner Veltliner or Riesling in two styles, a classic-styled medium-bodied wine and a rich, opulent dry Reserve style. |2018 3,907 hectares under vine (Wines of Austria).

Terroir: Kamptal boasts a variety of terroir, ranging from loess to gravel to crystalline sites and red feldspathic sandstones and conglomerates, as on the highly regarded Heiligenstein. The name derives from the blazing sunshine that cause a hot and dry microclimate. The geological development of the rock is rather special, is between 320 and 250 million year olds, formed desert-like conditions as a flashflood deposit and includes volcanic particles.

Along the steep terraces of the south-facing slopes, that in places are so steep that no layers of loess can form a hold, Riesling vines are planted, producing powerful, mineral wines with exceptional ageing potential. Moving southwards towards the Danube, there is a change in the soil structure to wider loess and loam terraces as offering the perfect conditions for traditional, but also full-bodied Grüner Veltliner , as well as the red and white Pinot varieties and Zweigelt. These wines are marketed under the designation of “Niederösterreich”.

Kamptal has the effects of the hot, Pannonian plain heat from the east and the cooler Waldviertel region towards the north west. The fine, delicate aromatics and retained naturally vibrant acidity in the grapes, is due to this unique combination of warm days and cool nights.

Other important wine-growing towns within a short distance of Langenlois are Schiltern, Gobelsburg, Haindorf and Zöbing, and the important wine commune of Straß im Straßertale. Smaller wine villages include Etsdorf, Hadersdorf, Kammern, Lengenfeld and Schönberg.

Main grapes: Grüner Veltliner, Riesling.

Vintages: 2018.

Climate: Johannes Hirsch of Weingut Hirsch says the Kamptal region ‘lies at some 200–300 metres above sea level [and] enjoys a climate favoured by its southern and southeastern exposure, influenced as well by the nearby Danube River on one side and the effects of the cold and windy Waldviertel on the other. This results in hot days during the summer as well as long and sunny periods in the autumn, when warm Pannonian air currents coming from the southeast are quite noticeable. They are met by cool winds flowing in from the raw northwest, making for cool nights even in the summertime. These contrasts are ideal for growing thick-skinned berries, shaping fine and fruity aromas and delivering plentiful vibrant acidity. At the same time, the barrier of the Manhartsberg (of Manhartsberger oak fame) and the tall forests of the upper Kamptal protect the region from any biting cold. The long vegetation period lasts well into late autumn, which gives the grapes ample opportunity to ripen fully.’

Geology: The south-facing wine growing area includes rocks that on the basis of their geological characters are attributed to the Variscan mountain range and the Molasse Zone. The Molasse Zone shows a marine deveopment, from a sea called Paratethys by geologists, and a river landscape, which is characterized by the overlapping areas of influence of three river systems: the Kamp, Traisen and Danube rivers.

In the north, diverse and predominantly acidic crystalline consolidated rocks dominate that also have been noted in the Wachau and the Kremstal areas. A rock package that is quite unique in Austria occurs within a wedge at the Heiligenstein area: in this tectonic rift valley the first erosion products of the former high mountain range of the Bohemian Massif are found. They consist of conglomerates, sandstones, arkoses (red, feldspathic sandstones) and shales. The sediments were deposited before 320 to 250 million years ago mainly under arid-hot climatic conditions as a result of flash floods directed from the ancient mountains onto the foreland. A special feature worth noting is the occurrence of rhyolite pebbles within the conglomerate that prove the existence of volcanic eruptions.

In the Kamp Valley glacially derived loess deposits are again the most prevalent wine-growing rock.

Wine styles: Effective from the 2008 vintage is the the Kamptal DAC which defines wines made from Grüner Veltliner or Riesling and in two styles, a classic-styled medium-bodied wine and a rich dry Reserve style.

Wineries

Certified BiodynamicMatthias Hager. | Weingut Hirsch. | Weinhof Anderl

Certified organicFuchs und Hase. | Jurtschitsch. | Martin & Anna Arndorfer. | Weingut Weszeli

No certificationWeingut Matthias Warnung.

Bibliography

Oxford Companion to Wine 4th edition ed. Jancis Robinson MW and Julia Harding MW (Oxford University Press, 2015).

Austrian Wine – A Taste of Culture – Our Wine – Kamptal