Wachauer Marille

Appearance & taste

Cone-shaped apricots such as the mainly grown variety “Klosterneuburger” are medium-sized, weigh 45 to 60 g on average and are conical or pointed. The honey-yellow skin is reddened up to half or more, often with brownish to reddish speckles; the flesh is evenly orange to reddish orange, firm and juicy and does not become mealy. Oval apricots or rose apricots are medium-sized to large, weigh 40 to 65 g, are oval or tall and roundish, with an orange-yellow, slightly downy skin and a red blush on the sunny side. Pineapple apricots weigh 30 to 70 g, are tall and roundish and medium yellow, with no blush or only a faint one.

The specification names the taste and aroma of the fruit and a high sugar, acid and pectin content as special features.

Production

The name applies to fruit of the three groups that the Wachau apricot growers and the nurseries of the area selected and planted between 1900 and 1960. The trees grow in the 21 municipalities of the growing area.

Origin & history

The area lies on the southern edge of the Waldviertel along the Danube as far as the northern part of the Dunkelsteinerwald and extends from Aggsbach-Markt and Spitz via Dürnstein and Weißenkirchen to Krems, Mautern and Rohrendorf. Here the Pannonian climate and the climate of the Waldviertel meet in the immediate vicinity of the Danube; precisely when the apricots ripen, the differences between day and night temperatures are large.

The name “Marille” is recorded in the region around 1509. Around 1890 the apricot was introduced on a large scale in the Wachau as a commercial fruit crop, alongside wine and flax, with a deliberate choice of varieties and the most suitable rootstocks. Since then apricot growing has been an important source of income in the region. In spring the trees in blossom shape the landscape.