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Erste Lage: Austria's first growths explained

What Erste Lage and 1ÖTW mean on an Austrian label, who decides which vineyards qualify, the rules behind them, and the sites and producers to know.

Alper Billik · Advanced Sommelier

Updated October 2026 · 5 min read · Edited with AI

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On this page

Who the ÖTW are
1ÖTW and GÖTW on the label
How a vineyard becomes an Erste Lage
The rules for members
The legal Erste Lage (since 2023)
A site and producers to know
Questions people ask

The short answer: Erste Lage means "first site": a single vineyard classified as one of the best in its region, the Austrian idea of a premier cru. On a bottle you usually see it as 1ÖTW, the mark of the Österreichische Traditionsweingüter (ÖTW), a group of leading estates along the Danube and in Vienna. Since 2023, Austrian wine law also allows Erste Lage and Grosse Lage as official terms.

So the word on the label can come from two places: the ÖTW's private classification, or the new legal one. Here is how to read both, and why sommeliers care.

Who the ÖTW are

An association of estates, working since 1991. Classifying Austria's vineyards was its goal from the first charter, with Kamptal and Kremstal as the pilot regions.
Today: 91 member estates from Lower Austria and Vienna, across eight regions, and 145 vineyards classified as Erste Lage (the ÖTW's own figures, October 2026).
The regions: Kamptal, Kremstal, Traisental, Wagram, Wien, Carnuntum and the Thermenregion, with the Weinviertel the most recent to join.
Not in it: the Wachau, which has its own DAC and its own association, Vinea Wachau (Steinfeder, Federspiel, Smaragd). See the Wachau guide.

1ÖTW and GÖTW on the label

Mark	Meaning	Released
1ÖTW	Erste Lage: a classified single vineyard, the premier cru level	From September after the harvest
GÖTW	Grosse Lage: the grand cru level, built on top of the Erste Lagen	From the second September after the harvest

1ÖTW: MeaningErste Lage: a classified single vineyard, the premier cru level; ReleasedFrom September after the harvest

GÖTW: MeaningGrosse Lage: the grand cru level, built on top of the Erste Lagen; ReleasedFrom the second September after the harvest

Both are Riedenwein, the single-vineyard top of Austria's three-step origin pyramid: Gebietswein (regional), Ortswein (village) and Riedenwein (single vineyard, or Ried). The ÖTW put the Erste Lagen first; the Grosse Lagen come later and more slowly.

How a vineyard becomes an Erste Lage

The ÖTW is clear that a classification does not measure a vineyard's "quality". It asks how significant a site is in its region: for its growers, its history and its wines. It weighs three groups of factors:

Content factors: when the site was first mentioned, how long it has been sold under its own name, how growers rate it, and how even its geology, climate and orientation are.
Quality factors: ratings in the press and by experts, the growers' own blind tastings, and how consistent both are over time.
Economic factors: how many producers bottle the site on its own, how much of it is sold under its name, its export reach, and its prices.

The rules for members

Certified organic or sustainable estates; no herbicides or insecticides.
Hand-picked grapes and lower yields than the law allows.
No chaptalisation (added sugar) and no must concentration.
The region's traditional grapes, made dry: mostly Grüner Veltliner and Riesling along the Danube; Wiener Gemischter Satz, Grüner Veltliner, Riesling and Weissburgunder in Vienna; Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch in Carnuntum.
Later release: time in the cellar before the wine goes on sale (see the table above).

The legal Erste Lage (since 2023)

The ÖTW spent years taking its system into the law. Austria's Wine Law Collective Decree 2023 now allows the terms Erste Lage and Grosse Lage for the whole country, under clear conditions:

Only on DAC wines, and only in regions that have defined all three levels (Gebietswein, Ortswein, Riedenwein).
Hand harvest and a yield below the legal maximum.
Erste Lage first: a vineyard can be promoted to Grosse Lage only after at least five years as an Erste Lage.
Each region decides whether to classify its Rieden.

Not every "first site" on an Austrian label is ÖTW. In Styria, the STK estates use their own private marks, 1STK and GSTK. Read the small print, as you would on a German GG from the VDP.

A site and producers to know

The Heiligenstein (Kamptal): a steep hill above Zöbing, famous for Riesling, and one of the best-known ÖTW Erste Lagen.
Two ÖTW member estates: Schloss Gobelsburg and Weszeli, both in the Kamptal.
Other producers of the Danube regions to taste: Bründlmayer and Hirsch (Kamptal); Salomon Undhof, Nigl and Stadt Krems (Kremstal); Markus Huber (Traisental); Fritsch and Leth (Wagram); Wieninger (Wien).

The ÖTW's member list and its classified sites change over time, so check oetw.at for which wines carry 1ÖTW. For the bigger picture of Austria, read Austria for Level 1 and the Certified and WSET guide.

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Questions people ask

What does Erste Lage mean?

"First site" in German: a single vineyard classified as one of the best in its region, comparable to a premier cru.

What does 1ÖTW mean on a bottle?

The wine comes from a vineyard classified as an Erste Lage by the Österreichische Traditionsweingüter, an association of leading estates in Lower Austria and Vienna. GÖTW marks the higher Grosse Lage.

Is Erste Lage a legal term in Austria?

Yes, since the Wine Law Collective Decree 2023: Erste Lage and Grosse Lage may appear on DAC wines from officially classified vineyards, hand-harvested and with lower yields. Before that, it was the ÖTW's private classification.

Is Erste Lage the same as German Erste Lage or Grosses Gewächs?

The idea is similar: Germany's VDP also uses Erste Lage and Grosse Lage, and GG for its dry top wines. But they are different associations with different rules, in different countries.