Wine & Sparkling Wine in Austria
Introduction
Winemaking has been rooted in Austria for thousands of years – part of the landscape, the culture and everyday life. Many indigenous grape varieties grow in Austria’s wine regions, where climate and geology give them the conditions for distinctive wines with real character. Family businesses shape the wine scene, and its growers stand for craft and quality.
The classic whites are Grüner Veltliner (around a third of the vineyard area), Neuburger, Rotgipfler, Zierfandler and Wiener Gemischter Satz; among the reds are Zweigelt, Blaufränkisch and St. Laurent, alongside Schilcher, the Styrian rosé made from Blauer Wildbacher. International varieties such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon also find good sites here.
The range runs from crisp whites to full-bodied reds and sweet wines of real finesse.
Austrian wine
From cellar vault to tasting room
Viennese wine taverns
Vienna is a major city that grows wine within its own boundaries. One moment you’re strolling through the old town, the next you’re sitting among the vines: the vineyards on the edge of the city – the Nussberg, for example – are reached in no time. With a glass of Grüner Veltliner or Gemischter Satz, a Viennese speciality, come savoury home-made dishes from the Heuriger buffet, which go beautifully with the wines from the grower’s own vineyards. And always on the side: that view over the city.
In the beginning, Vienna’s Heurigen were rustic Buschenschänken, where guests sat at long wooden benches to eat and drink. Their trademark was the bunch of branches hung above the gate, signalling that the Heuriger was open. That ritual hasn’t changed – the number and variety of places where you can enjoy Vienna’s wine certainly have.
Wine taverns
Wine experiences in Austria
Discover Austria's wine roads
What time makes of the grape
What would weddings, New Year’s Eve and the ball season be without those bubbles in a tall, slim glass?
Blue-violet or greenish-white, sweet and sharp at once: the grape does well in Austria, and it is the essence of the country’s finest wines and sparkling wines. Turning it into fine-beaded Sekt takes years. Following the méthode traditionnelle, the grapes are harvested, the base wine made, the bottles filled – and then comes the waiting, up to the dosage, every producer’s own secret. From the first step to the last, the Sekt stays in the same bottle.
For riddling, the bottle goes neck-down at an angle into a riddling rack, where it is turned an eighth of a turn and tilted a little steeper each time – 32 times in all. Its domed base spreads the pressure of the bubbles evenly. At Schlumberger, the mark on the base of the bottle points to this painstaking process. Schlumberger has kept it up since 1842, and Winzersekt from Austrian wineries is every bit its equal.