• Weintrauben an der Donau
  • Kellergasse Arbesthal © Andreas Hofer
  • Herbstlandschaft am Wagram © Robert Herbst
  • Beim Heurigen © Andreas Hofer
  • Wein in der Kellergasse Höflein © Robert Herbst

Wine Tours along the Danube in Lower Austria

Top Dates during the Wine Year You Won't Want to Miss

Wine with a History - In Today’s World

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 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.

Experiencing Wine
Along the Danube, you can immerse yourself deeply in wine history, say, by visiting historical wine cellars like the one at Klosterneuburg Monastery or at Nikolaihof in Mautern, which are among the oldest in the land. An experience for all the senses lies in store for you at Weinerlebniswelt wein.sinn, a unique wine experience created by the wine maker cooperative Winzer Krems. At multiple stations, you find out all kinds of fascinating things about the wine process, from vineyard to wine cellar - presented with modern audiovisual techniques.
Sample outstanding wines on a wine cellar tour with wine tasting in the unique baroque Kellerschlössel. Your host is the largest wine estate in the Wachau: Domäne Wachau.
In Langenlois, a town that produces more wine than any other in Austria, you can visit the LOISIUM for a unique wine experience. Here, modern architecture by star architect Steven Holl meets a 900-year old labyrinth of wine cellars.
The biggest memorial to wine in Austria is also free of charge and best experienced on a boat ride through the Wachau: the natural stone terraces in the Wachau made of typical dry stone walls.

At a Glance: Key Facts about Wine Country along the Danube

  1. Lower Austria is Austria's largest viticulture area for quality wine, with more than 28,000 hectares planted in vineyards.
  2. The eight wine regions in Lower Austria can be roughly divided into three climate zones: The Weinviertel in the north, the Danube area with its secondary valleys west of Vienna, and Pannonian Lower Austria in the southeast.
  3. Six of the eight wine areas in Lower Austria are in the Lower Austrian Danube region: Wachau, Traisen Valley, Krems Valley, Kamp Valley, Wagram and Carnuntum.
  4. From the Wachau to the gateways of Vienna, white varieties predominate, above all Grüner Veltliner and Riesling, whereas powerful reds like Zweigelt prevail in Carnuntum in the east.
  5. DAC is a quality label standing for "Districtus Austriae Controllatus": Only wines originating in Austria that also correspond to the typical taste profile of the region and pass muster before a tasting committee are allowed to bear the DAC label. Grüner Veltliners and Rieslings from the wine areas Wachau, Kamp Valley, Krems Valley and Traisen Valley fulfill precisely these criteria.
  6. In the Wachau, Grüner Veltliners and Rieslings flourish exceptionally well in the primordial rock soil. The latter are produced in three quality levels: Steinfeder (light, low alcohol), Federspiel (medium) and Smaragd (powerful).
Karte der Weinbaugebiete in Niederösterreich

Have we whet your appetite for the different types of wine in the wine areas? The best place to sample excellent wines is where the locals do: in the typical atmosphere of a heuriger wine tavern. A number of wine bars and shops (vinotheken) offer top regional wines for tasting and purchase. For a more extended wine trip, a vacation at a winery is highly recommended. It is a good opportunity to get to know wine country along the Danube and the people who live there.

Kellergasse Arbesthal © Andreas Hofer

Wine Encounters & Wine Seminars

All along the Danube - from the Wachau to Carnuntum - there are countless opportunities to immerse yourself in the wonderful world of wine at wine seminars, wine tasting sessions or hikes with trained wine guides.

Find an offer

Herbstlandschaft am Wagram © Robert Herbst

Winegrowing Regions along the Danube

Ancient wine culture and ultra-modern wineries. Venerable customs and elegant wine events. The finest white wines in the world and warm sociability at down-to-earth heuriger wine taverns. The wine regions along the Danube in Lower Austria lead you through unique wine country full of contrasts and new experiences.

A Primer on the Winegrowing Regions

Wine taverns

Opened now (Today, 19.03.2024)

Our Tip for You

Many wine makers offer wine tasting and wine purchasing for individual guests as well. We have compiled a list of the wine makers who open their cellar doors for wine tasting between November and March.

DID YOU KNOW?

... that the enjoyment of cuisine and wine was also part and parcel of culture in ancient Roman times, too?

In the ancient Roman world, wine was considered a staple to which even slaves were entitled. And it goes without saying that wine always appeared on the table at mealtime among free people. There were about 185 types of wine known back then, from inexpensive table wines to top quality wines, not to mention the ever-popular meads and spiced wines. The wine drinkers and innkeepers made the latter themselves by simply adding spices to the wines. Red wine (vinum atrum) far predominated over whites (vinum album) in terms of quantity.

The Invention of the "Gspritzter"
Wine was seldom drunk undiluted; people thought that only drunkards did that. Instead, the Romans invented the gspritzter - as the Austrians call it. The proportions of wine to water varied with preference or innkeeper. On hot days, ice-cooled wine was especially popular whereas on cold nights the drink of choice was mulled wine.

Find out more about the life of the ancient Romans along the Danube