Reichersdorf's Loess-Over-Conglomerate Erste Lage in the Traisental

Alte Setzen

Alte Setzen sits above the village of Reichersdorf in the Traisental, the narrow valley of the river Traisen that runs south from the Danube toward Herzogenburg and St. Pölten in Lower Austria. It belongs to a compact appellation of its own, one whose limestone-derived soils set it apart from the crystalline bedrock of the Kamptal and Wachau to the north. The name, roughly "the old plantings," records what the site has long been: one of the oldest and most consistently cultivated parcels in the commune.

Classification

Alte Setzen carries the ÖTW Erste Lage designation (1ÖTW), the tier of premier vineyard sites recognized by the Österreichische Traditionsweingüter and marked on the label by the "1ÖTW" cipher. Wines from the site are bottled as Traisental DAC, the appellation whose flagship varieties are Grüner Veltliner and Riesling.

Geography and Setting

The vineyard occupies a gentle, low-angle slope with a broadly east-facing aspect, sitting at around 250 metres above sea level. The Traisental's climate does much of the work here: cool alpine air draining down the valley at night meets warmer currents off the Danube by day, and the resulting diurnal swing preserves aromatic definition and acidity through ripening. Slope, elevation, and exposure shift modestly across the parcel, but the site reads consistently as a warm, well-ventilated east flank rather than a steep terraced wall.

Geological Foundation

The defining feature is soil. Roughly one to two metres of calcareous, loamy-silty loess lie over the conglomerate of the Hollenburg-Karlstetten formation, a bed of limestone and dolomite gravels laid down by the ancestral Traisen (the "Ur-Traisen") as it carried debris out of the Northern Limestone Alps some fifteen million years ago. The loess cap thins and thickens across the site. That loess supplies water- and nutrient-holding capacity and lends breadth and spice, while the limestone-rich conglomerate beneath contributes tension, salinity, and a firm mineral spine. Many of the vines here are more than sixty years old.

Character in the Glass

From the loess, Grüner Veltliner comes full-bodied and peppery, with the yellow-fruited depth that old vines and Reserve-level ageing in large oak encourage. Riesling, drawing on the calcareous substrate, tends toward a taut, stony, saline profile. Both express the site's central duality: generosity from the loess, cut and grip from the conglomerate.

Producers

Markus Huber, based in Reichersdorf, is the most widely exported bottler of the site, producing an Erste-Lage Grüner Veltliner from old vines. Weingut Siedler, a fifth-generation family estate in the village, is unusual in bottling both a Riesling and a Grüner Veltliner Reserve from Alte Setzen. Bioweingut Carina & Christian Kattner farms the site organically, including a Grüner Veltliner that foregrounds the conglomerate substrate. Tom Dockner, from nearby Theyern, completes the roster with a limestone-driven Grüner Veltliner from the Ried.

This comprehensive guide is part of the WineSaint Wine Region Guide collection. Last updated: September 2026.