GRAMMELPOGATSCHERL are, quite literally, indescribably tasty. The eventful history of the former Knights’ Castle Lockenhaus indescribably fascinating. And the Burgenland people who we meet here in the so-called Sonnenland Mittelburgenland central Burgenland wine district? Open-minded, welcoming and honest. Travelling from one wine city to the next, Horitschon to Deutschkreutz just south of the Hungarian frontier city Sopron, you can really trace local culture and wine. Especially great reds. Everything else you should know about exploring the area is what I intend to summarise here for you. After all, you will want to know what on Earth Grammelpogatscherl may be … ? Except being, well, indescribably tasty. 😉
Check it out: View from the former Knights’ Castle Lockenhaus just south of the city of Oberpullendorf, the first stop on our trip to central Burgenland and its sunny wine growing district.
During the evening dinner ceremony, we are greeted by song & rhythm: This young man does his best to entertain is in traditional ways!
A kiss for bats: These creatures of the night have found a second home here at the castle, building their nests in large colonies and having a proper exhibition dedicated to them. You can also join nocturnal tours to see them around here!
“Take me back to the Dark Ages”: Where does the central well of the castle lead to, I wonder … ?
In the large festival hall, chamber music concerts, readings or theatre plays as well as events of all kind take place.
A little later, we take to road and go visit the castle of “Schloss Deutschkreutz”, in the red wine district of Deutschkreutz where Professor Lehmden, a famous artist has made himself a home offering art summer academies, guided tours and teaching courses concerning fantastic surrealism in painting.
Another “indescribably good” phrase: Burgenland dialect for beginners. 🙂
(Is that what) real heroes look like!? Off we go on our Segways taking a cruise through the local vineyards around Deutschkreutz – wisely enough before we head on to our wine tasting events!
… taking on this form: Tasting the famous red wines of central Burgenland, we stop at the Gager Wine Estate in Deutschkreutz.
Anna clearly fancies the quality of the local wines, running a local wine shop in the small town of Horitschon herself and having recently opened her own wine travel blog at www.triumvin.at ! Check it out 🙂
The Gager Wine Estate boasts state-of-the-art cellar facilities and really takes the trouble to process grapes in the least disruptive manner possible: Quality we later discover during the tasting …
… of all the family’s different wines, some of them only grown here in the central Burgenland wine district.
This is what Burgenland people call “a snack” being served to compliment our wine tasting … Regional cuisine is simply delicious to taste, and often gets served in a rustic way like this using bread plates and a selection of ham, cheese and spreads.
“Talking brings people together”, is what they say. Good food, wine & strong traditions account for it, too, as we find travelling in Burgenland.
It is a (wine) holiday destination to relax, almost like in a fairy tale. Arriving at the “Apple Estate” Apfelhof run by the Rohrer family in the spa village of Lutzmannsburg, we really feel like coming off a fairy tale ourselves. Everywhere around the house, we find apples (as well as pears, grapes and other fruit 😉 ) in cute little details on the walls, pieces of decoration items as well as on our plates; all the rooms are designed to wrap you up in peace & creative pleasure. “Because we are really relaxed, I believe we also address the corresponding target groups”, our host Jürgen Rohrer smiles. He once ran marathons and now prefers to indulge in his apple trees, horse stables and happy (family) guests. Anna and I take to the stables almost immediately after visiting the famous blueprint workshop Koo: We have each really missed riding a horse, especially after (or despite my?) adventures riding horses with the Gauchos in Argentina !!!
At the Apfelhof Rohrer apple estate, cute little details meet us wherever we look around the beautiful guest house.
Being spoiled to healthy, tasty local juices for breakfast gets you going halfway through the day. Mmh!
Just a little later, we visit the famous blueprint workshop Koo in the local village of Steinberg-Dörfl. “Blau machen” – blue printing – has become a proverb in German referring to the ancient tradition of blueprinting and literally meaning, “to have a free day” or “to be idle” during the drying times of blueprinting.
The tradition of blueprinting follows many centuries of practicing this ancient form of craft; today it is only a few people all over Europe who still have to know-how to continue.
Josef Koo, our warm & welcoming blueprinting host, has all the reason to smile: In 2010, his craft workshop became classified as Intangible World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in Paris. Congratulations!
Here, he shows us an ancient photograph showing his grandfather and father, who both have started to build the business he leads with his wife today. The quality of the blueprints really is exceptional and deserves the international awards and attention.
A little later, we follow in the footsteps of these two ladies: Anna and I choose our own horses for a riding lesson at the Family Ranch horse riding estate just next to our Apfelhof accommodation in Lutzmannsburg.
I really fancy being back on a horse’s back after all my experience earlier this year in Argentina: The people as well as the horses here are nice and calm, the Family Ranch a great place to start and or deepen your experience.
Baking traditional “Salzstangerl” with Herta & walking the Red Wine Trail with Anna: Neckenmarkt and Horitschon welcome us to the heart of the red wine district here in Burgenland.
It is really not that easy if two villages are situated too closely together, with Horitschon and Neckenmarkt being more competitive rather than cooperative – at least in the past. Fortunately for us, past rivalry has since subsided with the two villages now drawing forces to build a real red wine reputation for themselves: Friendly, open-minded and heartfelt is what our welcome here feels like. We stop at Herta Mittenbacher’s Pension Sunnseit’n guest house greeted by traditional Burgenland hospitality: Baking Salzstangerl and Grammelpogatscherl bread rolls. Do not worry if you cannot even fathom pronouncing these two words: It is better to eat than to pronounce them anyway! During a creative baking workshop set right inside Herta’s team kitchen as well as later on when walking the First Burgenland Red Wine Trail with wine shop owner Anna Zell, the feelings rush back at us: An immediate sense of place, of peace and welcome here at the central Burgenland wine growing district. Beautiful. Take a look right inside the kitchen & into the Burgenland vineyards with us!
Getting excited and ready for some action: Learning how to bake traditional, local appetizers called “Salzstangerl”, typical here in Burgenland.
Rolled up, we sprinkle some cheese on them before they take about half an hour – 40 minutes to be ready for the tasting experience!
Mmmmhhh … I can still smell the beautiful aroma of these little bakery delights fresh out of the oven. Travel experiences I really like are home-made food ones 😀
So now, dear friends & readers, this is what a typical GRAMMELPOGATSCHERL looks like. Small, pretty and tasty, you must absolutely come here for an authentic bite!
Later on, we take to the road in order to walk off additional calories from our baking workshop: Heading out into the vineyards on the First local Red Wine Trail.
Anna Zell, who runs the local small town’s wine shop, explains to us all we need to know about growing wine in the area, including local grape varieties such as Blaufränkisch that fare really really well here …
Checking out the Theme Trail, why not take a seat on one of these fancy, all-weather-proof sofas right inside the vineyards?
Thank you, dear team for continuing to enjoy wonderful travels together: My friends & travel writers Petar & Monika Fuchs, Andreas Susana, Christian Kermer & Anna Zell – it is lovely sharing the good (wine) times with you!
Check out more colourful moments of our trip to the central Burgenland wine growing districtd here on Flickr. I might see you back for another red wine tasting event later this year? Here is what I had to say about last year’s wine autumn festival and events. Enjoy!