Visit a Heuriger in Vienna

If you’ve enjoyed visiting the major wine regions of the world, such as Champagne or Bordeaux, Vienna should definitely be considered for your next wine destination. Although Vienna is famous for its classical music and palaces, it also has a vibrant wine country just outside the city. There are dozens of heurigers in Vienna (traditional Austrian wine taverns) that offer up some amazing wine and traditional local dishes.

Getting There

My friend Kaitlin Narciso ( fellow blogger of A Caffeinated Life) and I took a 20 minute Uber from the city center to Fuhrgrassl-Huber. You can also take public transit, but we opted to save our time during our short trip to Vienna by taking Uber.

Fuhrgrassl-Huber

The atmosphere of the heuriger was so charming; we had a view of the rolling hills, the vineyards, and the quaint Austrian architecture of the winery. The property was home to a flock of free range chickens, which totally added to the experience. You’ll have to check the hours before you go, as many of the heurigers are only open for a few weeks out of the year. Austria is known for its white wines (like Chardonnay and Reisling), so we each ordered a few glasses each to sample.

Customer Service

If you want amazing customer service, you likely won’t enjoy your experience at a Viennese heuriger. Throughout our stay in Austria, servers seemed visibly annoyed by our presence. This culminated at Fuhrgrassl-Huber after our server chewed us out for trying to order food inside. After speaking with a Viennese local, we learned it’s very much part of the culture and locals are treated in a similar way. I have to admit that it was difficult for me to acclimate to this cultural difference.

Das Schrieberhaus

We then hopped next door to Das Schrieberhaus. This heuriger was equally as charming (although it was lacking in chickens). They did allow us to order food and we enjoyed a pretzel and an authentic Viennese schnitzel. The portion sizes were huge, so I’d recommend sharing with a friend if you don’t have a huge appetite.

If you time your visit for the end of September, you could even make it to the harvest festivals. At these celebrations, locals flood the heurigers dressed in traditional Austrian attire (think Maria from The Sound of Music). This should be an event on every wine lover’s bucket list!

If you’re interested in wine tourism, check out my other post on Napa Valley.