The Rosalia wine-growing region is situated on the eastern slope of the Rosalia Mountains, which extend along the border between Lower Austria and Burgenland. The Pannonian climate and loam soils offer perfect conditions for growing Blaufränkisch and Zweigelt, the region’s two most prominent grape varieties.
Area under vine
Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt
Pöttelsdorf, Neudörfl, Sigleß
Grape varieties
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Region & Wine
“Promoted” in 2018 from a Grosslage (large collective vineyard site) to a winegrowing region, Rosalia can look back on a long tradition of viticulture: Celtic tribes recognised the region's potential for growing the vine more than 2500 years ago. The combination of the Pannonian climate and “geologically young” deposits from a primordial ocean favours winegrowing. The grapes in Rosalia absorb all the energy of Burgenland's sun during the day and cool down again in the evening due to their proximity to the foothills of the Alps. Today, 241 hectares of agricultural land are planted with grapevines, providing the basis for powerful, spicy red wines and fruity rosé wines rich in finesse.
Blaufränkisch is the undisputed leader among the grape varieties in Rosalia: it grows on 50% of the area under vines, followed by Zweigelt. As of the 2018 vintage, regionally typical red wines with the designation of origin Rosalia DAC may be vinified from these two grape varieties. The medium heavy soils yield powerful wines that exhibit fruit, spice and great finesse – the regionally typical profile. In addition to the reds, rosé wines also play an important role. Here, not only the region’s star grape varieties are utilised, but other more common red wine grapes are also blended, provided they are Qualitätswein varieties. The result, the Rosalia DAC Rosé, is fruity and fresh, but also spicy – typical of the region.
In addition, Rosalia’s vast and unspoiled tracts of land – some of which form the Rosalia-Kogelberg Nature Park, offer a home to rare types of fruit, strawberries and sweet chestnuts; and do so in close proximity to Burgenland’s state capital Eisenstadt, offering significant potential for tourism.
Rosalia DAC & Rosalia DAC Rosé
(as of the 2017 vintage)
Grape varieties
- Rosalia DAC: Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt
- Rosalia DAC Rosé: one or more red Qualitätswein varieties
Quality Levels
- Rosalia DAC Gebietswein & Rosalia DAC Rosé: Submission for the federal inspection number from 1 January in the year following harvest
- Rosalia DAC Ortswein & Rosalia DAC Riedenwein: Submission for the federal inspection number from 1 November of the year following harvest
Alcohol
- Rosalia DAC: min. 12% vol.
- Rosalia DAC Rosé: N/A
Residual sugar
- Rosalia DAC: max. 4 g/l
- Rosalia DAC Rosé: dry
Flavour profile
- Rosalia DAC: showing great finesse; fruity, spicy, aromatic
- Rosalia DAC Rosé: fresh, fruity, spicy
Labelling
Indication of origin (incl. DAC) must be shown on the front label (if no back label is available). The indication of a vineyard site (Ried) is only permitted for Rosalia DAC Reserve and Rosalia DAC Rosé.
Geology
The south-western part of the region has developed from crystalline rocks, which are joined by increasingly younger Neogene sediments from the Vienna Basin towards the north-east. The sequence begins with coarse boulders in a sandy, loamy cement, covered with clayey, silty, subordinate gravelly sands. These form the soils of the vineyards south and west of Mattersburg and in the area around Draßburg. The low-lying Walbersdorf vineyards, between the Marzer Kogel to just outside Schattendorf, also lie on the same deposits, which originated from the sea that used to lap at the bottom of the Rosalia Mountains between 16 and 12 million years ago. Towards the north and north-east, there is a strip of somewhat more recent sedimentary deposits, which are again mostly sandy. These are covered by geologically younger sandy sediments, which were originally deposits from the former Lake Pannon. The vineyards of Pöttelsdorf, Sigleß, Bad Sauerbrunn and those north of Antau, all lie on these soils. Gravel-dominated vineyards are rare, but can be found at Neudörfl and Baumgarten. The vineyards of the southern-lying Rieds are dominated by soils with low to variable lime content, while in the central and northern Rieds, soils with a moderate to high lime content prevail.
Culinary tip
Culinary tip
The powerful, spicy character of the regionally typical red wines renders them ideal as companions for dark meat dishes. For boiled or stewed beef, fruity and medium-weight Rosalia DAC is recommended, while fuller-bodied Rosalia DAC shows its strengths with more flavour-intensive preparation methods, as well as more assertive types of meat such as lamb and wild game.
Rosalia DAC Rosé offers a wide variety of enjoyable options in combination with lighter dishes: crispy roasted vegetables, steamed or grilled fish and seafood; some delicate poultry dishes find a congenial culinary partner here as well.