Green Gates to Vienna: Country in the City
70% of the wine grown and produced in Austria’s capital city is drunk within city limits in rustic vintners’ inns called “Heurigen”. Warm-hearted, casual, and boisterous Heurigen characterize wine country culture in Vienna.
“Heurigen”, directly translated, means “this year’s” and the word is also synonymous for a wine tavern where hearty, rustic meals are served with the current year’s jug wine. This Heurigen culture, which so dominates Viennese wine, was made possible in 1784 by Emperor Josef II, who allowed vintners to sell homemade food together with their wines. Very much alive and kicking, the core of this culture today comprises some 630 wine producers and 180 Heurigen.
Far from the glitter and glamour of the high-brow culture of the inner-city, the Heurigen on the periphery of Vienna are the showplace of folk legends, stories, and gossip. Beethoven was often observed by curious locals during his walks on Mount Nussberg and although he was going deaf, he could certainly feel the cool breezes from the Danube and warm winds from the Hungarian plains and watch the birds flitting among the vines. Locals laughed as the eccentric genius hummed and sang loudly while waving his arms about. Beethoven’ favorite old haunt, Mayer am Pfarrplatz, still exists today and the old master wrote part of his 9th Symphony here. At a Heurigen today, just as then, you’ll find a toothless old geezer joking with a pierced and pimpled teen, doctors philosophizing with chimney sweepers, construction workers debating local politics with musicians, or housewives haggling with junk collectors. Guests come and go, simply taking whatever places may yet be unoccupied at one of the simple, wooden benches and tables. Wine is typically served by the carafe and the tables laden with tasty regional specialties.
The typical Heurigen wine is a “Gemischter Satz”. This historic specialty is a white wine made from several different varieties all growing together in the same vineyard. Despite their differing degrees of ripeness, Grüner Veltliner, Sauvignon blanc, and Pinot blanc or Traminer are all harvested and vinified together to yield a crisp, refreshing, fragrant wine. The popularity of the traditional Gemischter Satz lingers, and is even enjoying a renaissance lead by Wieninger and Zahel who produce perhaps the most concentrated and complex examples.
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"The Zahel brothers are a dynamic team: Alfred operates the Heurigen while Richard makes the wines."
