Your Wine Itinerary
Day 1
Morning
Start your day with a 30-minute drive from Vienna to Klosterneuburg. There, take a tour of the beautiful Klosterneuburg Abbey, a twelfth-century Augustinian monastery once a spiritual, artistic, and Imperial epicentre. After viewing the exquisite Treasure Chamber, the hour-long winery tour reveals the seamless integration of state-of-the art winemaking in the stunning and expansive Baroque cellar, three stories and 36 meters (118 feet) underground. A tasting of the award-winning wines of Stift Klosterneuburg completes the tour. Be sure to check the event calendar; an exciting concert, art exhibition, or wine tasting is always scheduled.
Continue westward along the Danube River for 40 minutes to Wagram - one of Austria’s most scenic wine regions. Across the Danube and within Kirchberg am Wagram, you can enjoy a delicious lunch (and wine tasting!) at Weritas. Sampling wines from local vintners is essential to a visit here. On weekends, Weritas hosts a convivial “Sunday Wine Brunch” enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. Graze a buffet of seasonal fare made from regional ingredients, while tasting excellent wines from nearby. Reservations are recommended.
Afternoon
After lunch, drive a few miles to the town of Grafenegg. Enjoy a leisurely stroll through the serene gardens at Grafenegg Castle, then tour the castle itself, a monument to romantic historicism. The structure still displays Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architectural elements dating back 700 years.
Evening
Having worked up an appetite, continue just five minutes more to Feuersbrunn and the Mörwald Cooking School. There, star chef Toni Mörwald teaches wonderful specialties of the Austrian cuisine, with its Bohemian, Hungarian, Italian, Jewish, French and Southern Slavic influences. Visitors can try their hands at the traditional Tafelspitz, a succulent boiled beef guaranteed to make your mouth water. Take the experience home with an official DVD and recipe folder, which will help you recreate the dishes anywhere, anytime. Each seminar ends with a shared dinner and Austrian wine pairing, followed by espresso and brandy.
Conveniently located adjacent to the restaurant/cooking school is the Villa Katarina, perfect for an overnight stay. Comfortable and charming, each room is individually designed to match Austria's great grape varieties and further acquaint guests with the various Austrian wine regions.
Evening Back in Vienna, start your evening early with a tour of the famed wine cellars at the Palais Coburg – home to a luxurious all-suite hotel, a gourmet restaurant and an astonishing collection of rare wines. Be sure to tour the six unique wine cellars, where you'll find more than 60,000 valuable bottles spanning four centuries.
Next, take a short stroll through the inner city for dinner at another Viennese institution: Zum Schwarzen Kameel. Established as a spice shop in 1618, it expanded organically over the centuries and is today renowned for typical Viennese cuisine. The art nouveau attire from the renovations of 1901 remains well-groomed and polished, making it a temple of chic Viennese gourmet culture. Enjoy a glass of Grüner Veltliner with a delicious hand-cut ham canapé, garnished with horseradish. This is a great spot to watch the comings and goings of businessmen, society ladies, artists, opera stars and wine farmers, all here to appreciate modern versions of local classics at reasonable prices. Its location in the heart of Vienna makes it ideal for exploring Vienna’s nightlife and having after-dinner drinks nearby.