Districtus Austriae Controllatus (DAC)

In 2003 Austria decided to move away from strictly varietal labeling of wines and introduced an appellation of origin system. Using the Latin "Districtus Austriae Controllatus" not only sounds fabulous but its abbreviation also looks similar to established appellation systems like those in France (AOC) or Italy (DOC). Nifty marketing.

The first DAC was declared in the wine-growing area Weinviertel, where it was applied to the 2002 vintage. Since then six more areas have been granted to carry a DAC designation.

The DAC designation does not replace other existing Austrian wine quality terms such as Spätlese or Smaragd. Instead it is there to tell consumers that any wine with "DAC" on its label is considered to be typical for this particular wine-growing area. Thus only wines made from certain grape varieties can carry the Districtus Austriae Controllatus status, because not all grapes grown in a particular area are necessarily typical for it.

Out of the seven wine growing areas with DAC status only three have traditionally grown Riesling. While we will see Riesling labeled Kamptal DAC, Kremstal DAC or Traisental DAC, we will never see a Riesling labeled Weinviertel DAC, because in the latter area only wine made from Grüner Veltliner is considered to be typical for this area and thus can carry the DAC designation.

So what happens with Riesling from the Weinviertel? Since it can't be a DAC, it must be labeled as a Riesling from Niederösterreich, the wine generic wine-growing area that encompasses the Weinviertel (more information about Austria's wine regions and areas). In other words, if a wine area has been granted DAC status, the area's name can henceforth only be mentioned for those grape varieties for which the DAC status has been granted. Wines from all other grape varieties can only carry the name of the encompassing area.

Below are the currently defined DACs in Austria. Those for Riesling are set in bold.

What does it mean for a Riesling to be DAC?

Using Kamptal as an example we will now accompany a Riesling in order find out what requirements is has to fulfill in order to be granted DAC status.

The official "DAC-Verordnung Kamptal" (Kamptal DAC regulation) from 2 December 2008 states first of all that all DAC wines must follow the same requirements as those set for quality wines produced in a specific region ("Qualitätsweine bestimmter Anbaugebiete"). For a Riesling from Kamptal this means the following:

  • min. must weight of 15 KMW
  • must meet the prerequisites for sensorical test
  • min. alcohol level of 9%
  • min. acidity level of 4 g/l
  • max. yield of 67.5 hl/ha
  • has to have a staatliche Prüfnummer (federal inspection number)
  • chaptalization (adding sugar to the grape must to increase alcohol level is allowed
  • Sweetening finished wine with sugar is allowed (max 15 g/l)

In addition to these requirements/restrictions/allowances our DAC Riesling from Kamptal must meet these additional DAC requirements:

  • can only be made from Riesling grown in Kamptal, but up to 15% of other grapes can be blended in
  • the word "Riesling" must be written in a smaller than the word "Kamptal"
  • the abbreviation "DAC" must be written in a font half the size of that for "Kamptal"
  • additional descriptions such as "quality wine" or "Spätlese" are not allowed
  • the wine region encompassing the wine area (in this case Niederösterreich) cannot be mentioned
  • the vintage has to be mentioned on the label
  • has to be dry
  • has to have the following characteristics: aromatic, elegant, mineral-driven, balanced, should not be alcoholic and must not be dominated by botrytis or have any wood notes
  • DAC Reserve wines should further have a bold and aromatic character, a long length and can show some botrytis or wood notes

Once the wine is finished the producer needs to decide whether s/he wants to label the Riesling as "Klassik" (min. 12% alc.) or "Reserve" (min. 13% alc.). A Klassik Riesling can be submitted to federal inspection after January 1st (Klassik) in the year following the harvest. A Reserve wine can only be submitted after March 15th.

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