Heuriger, wine taverns in Vienna that make their own from grapes they grow, go beyond tradition to raise quality and consistency
- Wiener Gemischter Satz are young wines for serving in-house made in bars around Vienna, the Austrian capital, by their proprietors using grapes grown on site
- These Heuriger were given tax-free status in the 18th century; today, many make single-varietal wines and different cuvées to satisfy modern tastes
The only capital city in the world that has vineyards within its boundaries? That would be Vienna, once co-capital of the sprawling Austro-Hungarian Empire and now best known for having an elegant centre filled with palaces and museums.
A short distance out into the suburbs, though, small hillside plots hatched with vines provide views across green profusion to the city below and the broad and sleepy River Danube snaking through it.
Here is where the Viennese come, perhaps by tram, for an economical good night out at a Heuriger, or rustic inn, that offers hearty traditional dishes and Wiener Gemischter Satz – fresh young wines from grapes grown by the proprietor, drunk almost straight from the vine.
These are neither single-variety vintages nor traditional cuvées, in which wines from different grapes are mixed after fermentation, but rather the product of a curious and carefully regulated tradition in which several types of grape are planted, grown, pressed and fermented together.
Wiener Gemischter Satz may contain as few as three varieties but typically many more, and sometimes as many as 20. The results are complicated yet refreshing and because of small plots and low yields, little of this wine gets exported.