Private Tour to Vienna’s Best Wineries

The food tour to Vienna's best wineries begins in the north-east of the city on the left bank of the Danube at the foot of the Bisamberg. Geologically, the approximately 360 metre high Bisamberg, a continuation of the Vienna Woods across the Danube to the east, consists of flysch, i.e. mainly clay and sandstone. At the foot of the Bisamberg, the soil contains loess, which was mostly formed during the last ice age around 13,000 years ago, when glaciers and frost crushed rocks and stones into rock flour. The rock flour was spread by the wind and deposited in predisposed places. Wiener Gemischter Satz Bisamberg DAC Wine is available in the wineries of Stammersdorf and Strebersdorf, which are located to the left of the Danube.

After visiting a winery on the left bank of the Danube we continue our tour after crossing the Danube in Heiligenstadt. Heiligenstadt lies on a beach terrace of a former branch of the Danube and stretches up to the Kahlenberg. On Pfarrplatz at number 2 is the Beethoven House, a 17th century building with a village-like appearance. When Beethoven lived in the house at Pfarrplatz 2 in 1817, he composed fragments of the "Eroica". In 1781, a mineral spring was discovered in the steaming pools near the parish church of St Michael in Heiligenstadt. An analysis of the water showed that it could be recommended for rheumatism, skin and liver problems. Beethoven moved to Heiligenstadt to visit the bathhouse spring as he expected his progressive deafness to improve. After the deafness progressed further, Beethoven wrote the so-called "Heiligenstadt Testament" in Heiligenstadt, a letter to his brothers, which he never sent, in which he expressed his despair over his progressive deafness.

Neustift am Walde is an old winegrowing village with 2 long rows of houses. In the rustic bar of the Fuhrgassl Huber winery, you can taste the Wiener Gemischter Satz DAC Ried Neuberg "68er" from the Neustift Neuberg vineyard. Ried Neuberg is a south-facing hillside vineyard with a subsoil consisting of flysch rock. However, Neustift am Walde is famous for its Kirtag. The Neustift Kirtag takes place annually on the feast day of St Rochus in August. After the festive mass, there is a procession with the Neustift winegrower's crown and the erection of the guardian tree. This custom goes back to a poor harvest of the Neustift winegrowers, who therefore went to Empress Maria Theresa with a harvest crown and asked for exemption from taxes. The Empress waived the payments on the condition that a Kirtag be held every year. Since 2020, the procession with the Hauerkrone has been a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage site.