Central Europe’s most imortant rosé wine region. The winegrowing region WESTSTEIERMARK is special for two features. With only 546 hectares under vines, it is the smallest winegrowing region at Styria – Steiermark (and thus one of the smallest of all Austria). Nevertheless, they produce a unique and autochthonous wine in the form of Schilcher, grown there in the majority of vineyards. Many other winegrowing regions are envious of Weststeiermark, because of the followinf factors.
Weststeiermark is an ancient wine-growing region and, like all other wine-growing regions in Styria, was also cultivated by the Romans, as well as the Celts and Illyrians who lived here before the Romans.
The vineyards of Weststeiermark extend like a long and narrow band from the foothills of the Koralpe Range and the Reinischkogel southward to the Slovenian border. Some parcels begin on the slopes of the hills at 420 metres above sea level and end atop the hills at an elevation of about 600 metres – among the highest-situated vineyards in the state and in Austria.
Taking a detour to villages such as Greisdorf, Gundersdorf, Wildbach or Wies leaves vivid impressions of the traditional, Styrian foundation upon which viticultural in the region is built. Weststeiermark is a modern winegrowing region with an extremely rustic setting, a unique legacy in world viticulture.
The vineyards of Weststeiermark extend like a long and narrow band, on the foothills of the Alps. There are four Ortswein districts Ligist, Stainz, Deutschlandsberg and Eibiswald.