Ried FUMBERG

Description
Ried Fumberg is located roughly 230 to 330 metres above sea level. The vineyards, the majority of which are terraced, primarily face to the south, but also to the south-east and south-west. The soil is a black earth composed of loess, which provides a deep root depth. Loess is a calcareous rock dust (silt) that was blown here from the Alpine region during the cold phases of the Ice Age, at a time when vegetation was sparse. Today, it forms a loamy, sandy soil that is invariably calcareous, with a well-balanced chemical and mineralogical composition and a good capacity for storing water. Clayey silts and sands can be found at the surface, but only in the north-western section of the Ried. These originated as sedimentary deposits from the former sea that existed here roughly 19 million years ago. Vineyards are recorded at this location in both the Franziszeische Kataster (Austrian cadastral survey) from 1823 and the Administrativkarte (administrative map, 1864–1881). They were referred to as “Pfundberg” (or “Fumberg”), with the northern part named “Woelfel” (or “Wölfel”). The modern-day name could be derived from the monetary unit Pfund (meaning “pound”) – an ox could be bought in the Middle Ages for a pound of pennies – or the name could be derived from an old unit for measuring the area of a vineyard, one Pfund being equivalent to 1/4 of a Joch (or “yoke”). It could even be a combination of the two: a tithe tax of one “Pfund” that was due on every “Pfund” of vineyard on the hillsides.
Source: ÖWM, BFW-eBOD Digitale Bodenkarte, Riedenatlas Wagram 2021, M. Heinrich et al. 2009, GBA 2015: Blatt 39 Tulln, NÖ Atlas-Land Niederösterreich, www.familia-austria.at
