Gently rolling hills covered with vineyards nestling one against the other blend harmoniously into the landscape of the wine regions along the Danube in Lower Austria. Wine is the livelihood for many people in the region and has a long tradition.
In fact, viticulture has a two-thousand year (cultural) history along the Danube. The Celts and Illyrians are believed to have pressed wine from wild grapes long before then, but systematic cultivation began at the time of the Roman occupation. The Bavarian dioceses and monasteries probably built the first terraced vineyards in the Wachau in the Middle Ages. Viticulture reached a heyday at the time, with large parts of today's Vienna planted in grapevines and the monasteries exporting their already in-depth knowledge of wine into the Danube region - a development that has left visible and delectable traces down to the present day.
From the Wachau to the gateway of Vienna, white wines are the predominant varieties whereas powerful reds prevail in Carnuntum in far-eastern Lower Austria. The most authentic way of experiencing these excellent vintages is at cellar-lined lane festivals and at traditional heurige wine taverns. Whether you opt for a wine festival in one of the picturesque cellar-lined lanes in the different wine regions or other types of oenophile events - enjoying wine outdoors is a favorite pastime along the Danube in Lower Austria from May to September.
