Overview
Ried Falkenberg is a 12.5 hectare vineyard on the Bisamberg, the winegrowing hill on the left bank of the Danube in Vienna's 21st district (Floridsdorf), above the villages of Stammersdorf and Grossjedlersdorf. It is one of the twelve Viennese sites classified 1ÖTW Erste Lage by the Österreichische Traditionsweingüter after the WienWein estates joined the classification in 2018, with the 2017 vintage the first entitled to the designation; those twelve sites total 18.4 hectares, 2.9 percent of Vienna's 637 hectares of vineyard. Falkenberg is one of two Erste Lagen on the Bisamberg, alongside Ried Wiesthalen. The name is thought to refer to falcon breeding or bird trapping once practiced on the hill.
Terroir & Position
The site occupies the higher eastern slope of the Bisamberg at 228-270 meters above sea level, with a gentle incline of about 8 degrees and an east to southeast exposure. Wieninger describes the soil as Viennese sandstone (Flysch) in the subsoil, with marine deposits at the surface that have weathered into sands. The gentle gradient and morning-facing aspect distinguish it from the steeper, south-facing Nussberg Erste Lagen across the Danube.
Producers
Weingut Wieninger, based in Stammersdorf, farms 2.78 of the 12.5 hectares and bottles Ried Falkenberg 1ÖTW as Wiener Gemischter Satz DAC from a co-planted field blend; retail listings for recent vintages name Weissburgunder, Chardonnay, Grüner Veltliner, Welschriesling, Neuburger and Riesling, vinified in stainless steel. Wieninger has also produced a Falkenberg edition for the JRE (Jeunes Restaurateurs) chefs' association since the 2018 vintage. Weingut Christ, the historic estate in Grossjedlersdorf whose farming roots date to 1605, bottles a varietal Weissburgunder Ried Falkenberg 1ÖTW that Austrian critics count among the country's best examples of the variety.
What to Know
Falkenberg is a Bisamberg site, not a Nussberg one: the ÖTW classification lists Vienna's Erste Lagen by hill, and Wieninger's own labels for the site read "Wiener Bisamberg Ried Falkenberg". The vineyard name recurs elsewhere, most notably the Piesporter Falkenberg on the Mosel (slate, Riesling, bottled by Fio among others), which is unrelated to the Viennese site. Wiener Gemischter Satz DAC, the category of the Wieninger bottling, has required co-planted, jointly harvested and jointly vinified field blends since 2013.