Districtus Austriae Controllatus

All Austrian quality wines have a round, red and white striped "Banderole" on the capsule, which ensures, that it has been inspected and approved by the government tasting authority and fulfills the requirements for “Qualitätswein”, such as maximum yields per hectare, minimum must weight and alcohol levels and guaranteed origin of the grapes.

[2] DACs are created for specific regions to establish clearly the local stylistic profile, in alignment with the French concept of terroir.

In Wachau, regional designations for dry wines were created as a response; Steinfeder, Federspiel and Smaragd.

However, several organisations pressed in the 1990s for a different national system to be introduced, with "appellation-style" designations based on geographical origin rather than on must weight, with regulations for each DAC regarding allowed grape varieties and wine styles.

This typically means that the name of the larger wine region, of which the DAC forms a part, has to be used instead, e.g. "Niederösterreich" instead of "Weinviertel".