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AUSTRIA
Stadt Krems
WINERY OVERVIEW
Established in 1452, the original purpose of this winery was to provide revenue for the hospital
in Krems. The estate-bottled wines of the city’s own winery have always been a source of
pride for its residents, but over the years the winemaking itself became perfunctory and
lacked distinction — until the arrival of the current team in charge of the winery.
Since 2003 many Stadt Krems vineyards have been replanted and revitalized, and the cellar
has undergone a renovation and expansion. Fritz Miesbauer and his young, ambitious team
now craft their wines in the stainless steel tanks of a pristine but technically simple cellar. With
a compact range of six offerings sourced from a variety of soils, handled by careful and adept
managers, the wines display both the minerality and the juiciness of the Kremstal.
LOCATION OF VINEYARD
All 75 acres (30 hectares) of vineyards held by Weingut Stadt Krems are within the city limits.
The Krems Valley is only a small winegrowing area, defined by two different soil profiles. The
rolling highlands and the eastward falling slopes of the Bohemian Massif are some of the
oldest formations in the world. In the Krems area, it is made up of various types of gneiss,
whose weather-beaten forms make up the original Urgestein (primary rock) of the terraced
vineyards to the west of the city. This is excellent soil for growing Riesling. But the loess soil
is of particular importance for viticulture in Krems. Formed in the most recent Ice Age some
300,000 years ago, it is mainly found on the southern and southeastern slopes of the Krems
vineyards. It provides optimal conditions for growing the famed Grüner Veltliner of Krems with
a lot of spice and fine structure.