A Trip to Vienna’s Wineries

My friend Gabriela says, “You can see the whole city; it’s that clear.” as she points to the ground below us. Here we are in the midst of a vineyard on a hillside above Vienna. We can see the Danube meandering through the center of Austria’s capital city below us.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral’s Gothic spires rise high above me, and I can make out the Prater, home to Vienna’s famous Giant Ferris Wheel.

While I have seen this scene before, it never fails to put a smile on my face. When I was a college student studying abroad, I fell in love with Vienna.

Wine, coffee, and classical music were all things I avoided until I moved here. But Vienna worked her magic, and by the time I left, I enjoyed all three.

I try to get back to Vienna every chance I get now, but summer is definitely my favorite time to go. Old Town patios are bustling with diners, and the city’s palace gardens are at their colorful best.

The vineyards, which stretch from the outskirts of the Vienna Woods to the banks of the Danube, have also flourished.

VIENNA’S LOVE AFFAIR WITH WINE

Nussberg, Kahlenberg, and Bisamberg are home to over 190 vintners, and they are the most prominent hills in the Vienna wine region. One of the symbols of Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace, even has its own vineyards.

Austria has a long history with wine, and Vienna is a center of that history. Wine gardens and taverns in Vienna are just as popular as beer gardens are in Germany. As a result of a special edict issued by Hapsburg Emperor Josef II in 1784, winegrowers were given the legal right to sell their own wines, giving rise to the much-loved local Heurige tradition.

REASONS TO VISIT VIENNA

The Heurige of Vienna are wine taverns where vintners serve their own creations alongside regional specialties.

Many of these establishments have garden or courtyard seating where you can enjoy a glass of wine and inexpensive dishes like dark bread with Liptaurer (spicy cheese) or other creamy spreads, potato, cucumber, or carrot salads, sauerkraut, and a variety of roast meats.

Only when they have wine for sale do heurige open their doors. When the Heurige is open, the winemakers will hang a bundle of coniferous twigs above the door and announce it with the word, Ausg’steckt.

HIKING IN THE VINEYARDS

Walking through the vineyards and finishing the day at a Heurige is a popular pastime for Vienna locals. Vienna even celebrates a Wine Hiking Day every fall where hikers can choose from three predetermined routes through the region’s vineyards. Many wineries and restaurants along the route provide free samples.

HOW TO REACH THE VIENNA VINEYARDS

The Vienna Woods and the nearby vineyards can both be reached quickly and simply by taking advantage of Vienna’s efficient public transportation network. When I go, I prefer to stay in the Old Town area.

Taking the 38A bus from the beautiful Grand Ferdinand Hotel on the Ringstrasse to Grinzing only took me 40 minutes.

Starting from that point, Gabriela and I hiked the Grinzinger-Steigs trail’s 3.4 miles. Walking between the historic wine towns of Grinzing and Nussdorf, the path winds through the town and up into the hills covered in vineyards. Many of the grapevines at the first vineyard we came across were named after well-known figures, such as Christoph Waltz and the Dalai Lama.

Following the path, we skirted the verdant Vienna Woods. The hills are interlaced with trails for both hiking and biking, and we saw many people out enjoying the outdoors as we rode by. The path would wind its way through the trees on occasion, eventually leading down neatly arranged vines.

VIENNESE WINES

Wines of the white variety, especially Grüner Veltliner, are the mainstay of Vienna’s wine industry. Also popular is the Gemischter Satz, a wine blended from several different types of grapes.

More than 20 different grape varieties can be planted in a vineyard, harvested, and then pressed together to make a special Gemischter Satz. There’s a lot of debate among my Vienna-based pals, but many of them enjoy a G’spritzer, which consists of Gemischter Satz and soda water.

Wine bars in the area often set up temporary outdoor eating and drinking areas in the vineyards when the weather permits.

On our hike, we pass a number of these establishments, and they all look delicious: Wieninger am Nussberg, Mayer am Nussberg, Heuriger Sirbu. But we press on, enjoying the bright day and the clean air. However, nightfall eventually arrives.

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