Since the beginning of this year, I have been writing for a digital magazine called “Urlaub am Winzerhof” (Austrian Wine Farm Holidays). Their website www.urlaubamwinzerhof.at tells you more about different overnight stays on winegrowing estates in Lower Austria, Burgenland or Styria. In addition, some of their short stories are authored by me, telling you more about typical cultural wine stories, such as the “Heurigen” or wine spring festivals.
The first part is dedicated to the so-called wine spring, describing a series of festivals taking place during spring right here in the Weinviertel, Lower Austria’s largest wine growing district …
… another article deals with this typical little “wine road”, called cellar lanes, and their press houses used by the winegrowers since the days of old …
… and then, there’s an article telling you all you need to know about a typical Austrian “Heurigen” wine bar, such as right here at the Donabaum Wine Estate in Spitz in the Wachau valley.
Check out all my articles here (only in German right now):
- “Weinfrühling in Niederösterreich“
- “Kellergassen – Dörfer ohne Rauchfang“
- “Heurigenkultur – Ausg’steckt is!“
- “Weinherbst“
- “Kellerkatze & weitere, mythologische Wein-Wesen”
However, all above stories will be translated and published in English on the same website soon, so stay tuned!
It is important to provide more wine-related travel information, as our foreign friends often find it difficult to understand the culture of wine here in Austria. I only think of a situation we have experienced with our Australian friends, passing the typical cellar lane between Hadersdorf and Gedersdorf near Krems in Lower Austria: “Elena, who lives here? Is this where the poor people live?”
True story. Lacking any cultural information about the cultural history of press houses, or the very cellar lane by the roadside, our lovely Australian friend thought that the colourful little houses she saw were the houses of poorer people. We laughed, explained what they saw and pointed to a particularly beautifully restored press house in the Kellergasse: “On the contrary, Carol, this is where the wine lives! And what a wine at that …!”