Vienna 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Districts
It’s the second day of our Vienna wine bar tour and I am really getting a feel for this wine city. Today we continue just outside of yesterday’s first district, but still within the Gürtel.
Ruth Havel and Sylvia Petz – gourmet event experts in Vienna (c)citronenrot
As we step out of the U4 subway at Naschmarkt, we are immediately greeted by the potent fragrance of exotic foods and the lively holler and bustle of Vienna’s historic outdoor market. Everyone knows Vienna for its operas and waltzes, its coffee houses and castles, and the Prater amusement park, but this is the multi-cultural Vienna of everyday. This centuries old marketplace is built over the river and combines the typical Viennese sales spiel with the atmosphere of an oriental bazaar. Here we can barter, badger, and bargain to our hearts content while sampling everything from bratwurst to calamari, sushi to kebab on our way to our first stop.
Wein & Co. Naschmarkt Bar is the totally hip wine bar from the eccentric Wine & Co merchant Heinz Kammerer. “Sylvia and I love this place,” says Ruth. “It’s close to our office and it’s a place where foodies that didn’t find a big enough selection of wines while shopping at the Naschmarkt hang out.” It’s a bit more relaxed and less crowded than the affiliate Wein & Co Bar on Stephansplatz. Do you notice that every bottle of Austrian wine has a red-white-red striped disc on top of the capsule? “That is the Austrian quality seal. Every Austrian quality wine (Qualitätswein aus Österreich) is tested in a lab and tasted by the Austrian wine quality inspector commission,” explains Ruth. “I like it because it makes it easy to recognize which wines stacked in my cellar racks are from Austria.” Beyond the huge selection of Austrian wines, the Wein & Co. Naschmarkt bar also has a well-sorted offering from around the world. 2000 wines can be purchased from the shop and consumed on the premises for a nominal additional fee of € 5.90 which includes a 0.75 l bottle of mineral water as well. Despite this, Ruth chooses the Pfaffl Winery’s Grüner Veltliner from the Zeiseneck vineyard in the Weinviertel appellation because “it’s the perfect introduction to Austria as an archetypical example of our country’s leading grape variety.”
Ruth and Sylvia are really excited to show me the next place, because the patron is a no frills wine freak. “Two rooms with a bar and a couple of simple tables, plenty of wine paraphernalia and over 1800 wines from around the world, welcome to the wonderful world of Pub Klemo!” exclaims Ruth. Robert Brandhofer has put much thought into his selection of wines which includes both famed and lesser know producers and a few nice little verticals with older vintages. There are typically two weekly themes – one from Austria and one from somewhere else in the world. Each theme is comprised of a flight of six wines. The food is ingredient-driven, kind of an Austro-Mediterranean style with everything from antipasti or cheese to pasta or meat dishes. The prices are exceptional; truth be told they border on philanthropic. Ruth and Sylvia have a tough time pulling me from an interesting conversation with Robert about the vertical of Krutzler Perwolff, a classy spicy blend of Blaufränkisch and Cabernet Sauvignon from southern Burgenland (Südburgenland). If you find meeting winemakers and insiders to the Austrian wine scene more intriguing than interior design, you’ll love this wine “pub”.
Winetime is a stylish, but cosy little wine bar with an interior that combines brick walls with shining stainless steel and dark rich wood. The patron, Manfred Strametz, scours the Austrian countryside to find the best organic products for his kitchen. You can watch Manfred cook while chatting with friends and listening to truly good tunes. This friendly place offers over 25 different wines by the glass. I order a small portion of scrambled eggs with truffles. Sylvia sets a glass in front of me and says, “Fritz Wieninger’s Chardonnay will be a perfect match for two reasons. Just like those eggs, this wine is farmed organically! Austria has the highest percentage of organic agriculture in Europe and the number of organic wine producers is increasing every year. This bright, crisp un-oaked Chardonnay from right here in Vienna has enough mouth-filling body to carry the decadent earthiness of the truffles.” There is truly beauty in simplicity!
Then next wine bar in the neighbourhood has vaulted dome ceilings and walls in brick and is doused in warm dim light. A Diana Krall CD plays in the background to softly murmured conversations. Ruth looks at my face and says, “I hate to tell you this, Julia, but I knew you’d be a sucker for an old fashioned, romantic atmosphere.” Wein & Wasser is a place for those who don’t take the wine-thing all too seriously. Don’t get me wrong, they have a nice selection of Austrian wines and a few token imports. Mouth-blown Austrian stemware is standard here as in nearly all Viennese wine bars and they serve tasty Austro-Mediterranean antipasti, cheese and charcuterie. No surprises. And maybe that’s the coup: you can concentrate on conversation with the person or people you’ve accompanied while enjoying a solidly good glass of wine. We order a bottle: a nicely matured St. Laurent Reserve from Pepi Umathum and a hearty platter of cheeses to match.
Rathaus Wein&Design Manager Conrad Schröpel in the room sponsored by vintner Markus Huber (c)Lechner
It’s been a lovely evening. Ruth and Sylvia accompany me to the Hotel Rathaus Wein & Design where they have booked me for the weekend. This is not just a hotel with a little glass, steel and stone and then a grape seed oil facial mask in your bathroom. The Fleischhacker family has dedicated the entire heart and soul of their hotel to wine. Each of the 39 rooms is sponsored by a different leading Austrian vintner and the mini bars are not stocked with wimpy stuff you wonder why anyone bothered to bottle. Each vintner’s room is stocked with the winery’s very best. The entire assortment of these 39 vintners is also found in the hotel’s wine lounge. Well over 300 different wines from the are listed and cover every Austrian wine growing region. This month’s featured winery is Bründlmayer from the Kamptal. This is one of Austria’s best vintners and every single Bründlmayer wine is available by the glass the entire month. The director of the hotel, Conrad Schröpel, is also the sommelier. I don’t think that there is anything you could ask him about Austrian wine that he wouldn’t know, yet he is incredibly unpretentious and definitely not patronizing. He recommends the Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese from the famous Zöbinger Heiligenstein vineyard as a night cap. Stunning! I adore the lingering sweet taste on my lips as I head off to bed.