Mehr als Urgestein und Löss
Vineyards instead of ocean bays
The varying hardness of rocks, the course of tectonic boundaries as well as large-scale uplift and subsidence processes affect the landscape of the wine growing areas and, due to their respective altitude, orientation and slope, influence also the relief of the soils and consequently, the local climate of the vineyards. These factors and Austria’s location within the northern wine-growing belt of the Earth are the result of plate tectonic motion of the Earth’s crust, and related changes in the position of oceans and continents. This motion has also given rise to mountain ranges and is the reason why the lowlands in the east of the country are no longer occupied by seas but instead are areas displaying diverse cultural landscapes.
Since the major rock units essentially traverse Austria lengthwise, while the wine-growing regions trace an arc in the east of the country, the latter consequently include occurrences of almost all the main geological units. This is why our wine landscapes are so varied, unique and interesting!