Wine Tour of Austria / Vienna,Eisenstadt and Graz
1st day / Arrival Vienna
Arrive at Vienna International airport and be met by your tour manager and bus
driver.
Transfer to your hotel and check in.
Vienna - included in UNESCO's list of world heritage sites because of its unique
appearance. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles,
including baroque castle and gardens and the late 19th century Ringstraße lined
with grand buildings, monuments and parks. Vienna developed from early Celtic and
Roman settlements into a medieval and then baroque city, and became the capital of
the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Since the 16th century, Vienna has been universally
acknowledged to be the musical capital of Europe.
Have lunch before joining your guide for a sightseeing tour of the
city.
Enjoy a ½ day guided city tour of Vienna, during which you will see the historical
center, St. Stephan's Cathedral, the Karlskirche, the State Opera, the Hofburg,
Schönbrunn Palace and other sights.
Discover the wines of Vienna:
Vienna is the only metropolis in the world to pursue serious viticulture within its city limits. The wines grown on about 700 hectares in Vienna are primarily white wines. Principally Riesling and white Burgundy grapes are made into especially fruity, elegant wines. However, Viennese winegrowers are beginning to cultivate more red wines - especially Blauer Zweigelt.
Today we begin our tour of discovery of Viennese wines at Wieningers. You'll be
driven from your Hotel to the Heurigen Wieninger (wine restaurant) in Stammersdorf
for a guided tour of the wine cellars and a tasting of 6 different wines from the
area, followed by a "Heurigen Buffet" dinner.
Transfer back to the Hotel.
2nd day / Vienna
Breakfast at your hotel.
Morning: a half day excursion to the historic Klosterneuburg
Abbey, just north of Vienna in the town of Klosterneuburg.
During your tour of the abbey you'll see a significant medieval masterpiece - the
Verdun Altar by Nicholaus Verdun - with exquisite enamel work. The complex includes
a chapel with 14th and 15th century stained glass, an extensive library, a chamber
of relics, a treasury, and a large wine cellar.
The Klosterneuburg Abbey became one of the largest winemaking estates in Austria
and of such importance to the city's economy that the Augustinians considered it
their responsibility to protect and continually enhance the quality of their
wines.
We have arranged a wine tasting in the Vinothek of the monastery before taking you
to a luncheon at the exclusive restaurant Schuettkasten.
After lunch we'll travel to the departure point of the "Heurigen Express" a fun
train which will take you through the picturesque Viennese Vineyards in Nussdorf,
Kahlenberg and Grinzing. Skirting the edge of the Vienna Woods, you'll pass
the elegant villas of prominent Viennese citizens and the quaint old houses of wine
growers.
Evening: Transfer to Gumpoldskirchen for a wine tasting in the
cellar of the Winzergenossenschaft (Wine Grower's Association) of Gumpoldskirchen.
Taste"Rotgipfler" and "Zierfandler", the specialties of the
Thermenregion, to be followed by dinner at the Heurigen Restaurant
Bruckberger in Gumpoldskirchen.
Return to your hotel in Vienna.
3rd day / Vienna
Breakfast at your hotel.
Enjoy a day on your own.
Optional: upon request you can attend a performance of the
Vienna Boys' Choir at 9:15 am.
11 am: Sunday Brunch at the Museum of Fine Arts (between 11 am and 3 pm) with a
welcome cocktail and a guided tour (for brunch guests only) of the Special
Exhibition.
Optional:
Afterwards you could take some time to stroll through the Museum of Fine Arts,
visit the Museums Quarter/Leopold Museum, the Lower Belvedere, or attend a music
performance in the Vienna State Opera ("Lohengrin), at the Volksopera ("The Sound
of Music"), or a musical at the Raimund Threatre ("We will Rock You"), or a Vienna
Festival Concert at the Musikverein or Konzerthaus.
4th day / Eisenstadt
Breakfast at your hotel and check out.
Departure from Vienna to Halbturn in the province of Burgenland.
Winery Castle Halbturn. Since the restructuring in 2001 the winery of Schloss
Halbturn has set a new course and is opening a new and exciting chapter in Austrian
and international wine history. Mediocre vineyards were destroyed and replanted, a
young and international team has been employed, and biodynamic principles were
introduced in cultivation.
Lunch at the Castle Halbturn.
After lunch we drive from Halbturn to Gols for a tour (with wine-tasting) of the
Juris Winery, then continue by bus to Illmitz and visit the Willi Oppitz Winery for
a tasting of sweet wines.
Afterwards we'll travel to the landing dock to embark on a boat tour
across Neusiedel Lake to Moerbisch.
From Moerbisch we continue by bus to Rust to visit the Austrian Wine Academy.
At the Academy, you will receive an excellent overview of the Austrian wine
industry, past and present, and learn about Austria's most productive grape vines.
The Director of the Austrian Wine Academy, Dr. Josef Schuller, MW,
is Austria's first and only Master of Wine. The Wine Academy of Rust has been
designated to run the Weinakademiker courses that may often lead the graduates to
study for the most difficult exam in the world - the MW degree.
Before dinner we'll take a stroll through Rust and visit the traditional
winery, Paul Triebaumer, whose vintages are renowned. Old casks and equipment from
the 18th and 19th centuries will be viewed.
We continue on to Eisenstadt, the capital of Burgenland, to your hotel and check
in.
Welcome to Eisenstadt, the smallest capital in Austria.
Eisenstadt is well known as "Haydn City". Joseph Haydn worked as composer and
Director of Music at the Esterhazy Palace.
Dinner at a local restaurant
5th day / Graz
Breakfast at your hotel and check out.
Tour Esterházy Palace with the Haydn Saal and the Haydn church. The "Haydn Saal" in
the Esterházy Palace was built in mid 17th century and has played a very important
role in music history since the 18th century. It has great acoustics, and its name
suggests, the composer Joseph Haydn worked here for more than 30 years and many of
his symphonies were performed here for the first time.
Continue by bus to the Leisserhof winery in Donnerskirchen. We'll start with a walk
though the vineyards to the Bergkirche (mountain church) where we will be able to
fully experience the beauty of the wine growing area Neusiedlersee - Leitha
Gebirge. Afterwards we will have a guided tour of the cellars with ancient wine
casks and underground wine cisterns.
Afterwards we will have the opportunity to enjoy the wonderful house wines and a
luncheon. Our host will be Mr. Ernst Engel, owner of the Leisserhof and Wine Master
of the European "Weinritterschaft" (Wine Knights).
After lunch we continue on to Graz.
Welcome to Graz, the capital of Styria
Graz is a city, but a fairly rural city. You cannot help but like Graz. Everyone is
welcomed with open arms, there's never a need to worry about having an invitation.
Graz is like a house which is not cleaned up just for visitors and the doors are
always open.
Graz is not Styria but if you want to understand the essence of the province, you
can start here. Graz is made up of the historical city, the new city and the
countryside. Where else but in Graz could you start walking in the city and end up
in the countryside or vice versa? In this lively city, young and old are constantly
in dialogue.
We will have a wine tasting and dinner in the "Blue Salon" for your first exposure
to Styrian wines.
Transfer to your hotel and check in.
6th day / Graz
Breakfast at your hotel.
We'll take a 2 hour walking tour through the city of Graz inluding a
visit to the famous armoury.
Travel to Stainz and up to the Rauch-Hof restaurant, for a "Schilcher Parcours" in
the garden and a lunch worthy of the individual wines on display. Schilcher, a
distinct rosé made from the indigenous Blauer Wildbacher grape, is a wine produced
solely in the Austrian region of Western Styria. The colour ranges from a light
onion tinge to a deep ruby.
After lunch we continue to the Hotel Steirerland.
Darrel Joseph and Helmut Knall will guide us through a selection of samples in a
tasting of "Sauvignon Blanc" Styria's flagship grape.
Our next stop for dinner will be a more modern restaurant and vinothek, the
"Kreuzwirt am Pössnitzberg" with chef Christian Fuchs, a celebrated cook with three
Gault Mileau toques, who works closely together with the famous Styrian Winery of
the Polz brothers in Spielfeld (southern Styria).
Alternatively we will visit the winery Sattlerhof near Gamlitz for dinner.
After dinner return to Graz for an evening on the town on your own.
7th day / Krems
Breakfast at your hotel and check out.
Today we drive the scenic route through the interior of Austria from Graz to the
wine growing area of the Wachau, via Mariazell. The Mariazell Basilica is the most
important destination for pilgrims in Austria and one of the most important in
Europe.
Lunch on your own in Mariazell in one of many good restaurants close to the
Basilica or we could stop for lunch at a famous restaurant on the way to Mariazell,
the Steirereck on Pogusch Mountain.
After our stop in Mariazell, we continue our trip to the Goettweig Abbey in the
Kremstal for a tasting of Goettweig specialty wines and red wines from Lower
Austria. The Abbey sits on a hill 449 metres above sea level in the Dunkelsteiner
Forest south of the city of Krems & offers a magnificent view of the Wachau
portion of the Danube valley. The Wachau, with its magnificent monasteries, small
medieval towns, Biedermeier villages and centuries old, prehistoric rock
viticulture terraces, has been placed on the UNESCO World Cultural and Nature
Heritage list.
After a wine tasting in the wine estate of the Abbey, we will enjoy a dinner
with regional specialities on the terrace of the Abbey restaurant, overlooking
the Danube valley.
Transfer to your hotel and check in.
8th day / Vienna
Breakfast at your hotel and check out.
Enjoy a guided tour at Melk abbey, one Europe's great cultural ensembles.
Europe's Great Cultural Ensemble
Melk has been a spiritual and cultural centre of Austria for more than 1000 years,
fist as a castle for the Babenbergs, then from 1089 on as a Benedictine monastery,
founded by Margrave Leopold II.
Since the 12th century a school has been connected with the monastery, and valuable
manuscripts have been collected and created in the library. In the course of the
monastery's history, members of the Melk monastic community have achieved
significant success in the fields of natural science and the arts.
Embark on a short boat ride on the Danube from Melk to Duernstein. Duernstein is
one of the most visited tourist destinations in the Province of Lower Austria, with
its baroque church and terraced vineyards and a medieval castle ruin crowning a
steep rocky hill high above the Danube, where Richard Lionheart was imprisoned for
ransom on his way home from the crusades. After arrival, walk up to the Hotel
Schloss Duernstein, an elegant 5-star castle hotel where we will have lunch,
weather permitting, on the wonderful terrace overlooking the Danube Valley.
Transfer to the palace of Grafenegg. With its country park stretching over 32
hectares, it is one of the most historically significant palaces in Austria. After
a tour of the castle and a look at the performing areas for music festivals we will
have a lecture with tasting of the "Special Grape Varieties of Lower
Austria".
After that transfer to the restaurant "Zur Traube" in Feuersbrunn. Here you will
have a special treat, a cooking class with Toni Moerwald, and an excellent dinner.
After dinner you'll continue on to Vienna to check in at your hotel.
8th day / Departure
Breakfast at your hotel and check out.
Transfer to the airport for departure.
