Austria ranks highly as a city break destination with friends. Vienna is a city I’ve been to more than once and it always seems to deliver new treasures. Our previous outing was in the summer where beach bars with sand along the riverbank were a cool highlight along with vineyard visits on the outskirts of the city.
As eager wine enthusiasts whose first stop on our Autumn trip was a wine bar where the Austrian manager was eager to ensure we tried a lot of the locally produced wines, our most recent trip coincided with a wine event showcasing the 500 top Austrian wines… in a palace nonetheless!
We arrived at the event early and hadn’t expected snacks to be included with the ticket price which showcased some remarkable Austrian wines. I’d always personally avoided Austrian wines due to the high acidity and low sugar levels, but I was happily surprised that some oaked chardonnays were perfect to my palate and we enjoyed meeting some producers who were very passionate about their wines. A vineyard on the northeastern border also delivered some impressive red wines.
Then we headed off to an Asian restaurant where you order your meats, sides and broth and you cook the final elements of your meal in a segmented pot on a gas plate delivered to your table. The flavours were unique and tasty, and we loved our experience with some remarkable cocktails.
The next day we had a lovely brunch in the city centre walking past statues and monuments and we had amazing blue autumn skies at a beer garden featuring cheesy Swiss cheese, before we headed to the permanent fairgrounds where you can take in rides overlooking the Vienna skyline for €4-5. We even visited a rollercoaster-type restaurant where your food and drinks are prepared and delivered by a robot which dances; and delivers your order via a mini-rollercoaster to your table!
On the final day of our weekend break we ventured to the river where we caught a magnificent sunset from the river bars and restaurants that are closing for the winter where we took in some amazing beers and pizza with our final Austrian wines before the flight home. Thanks Austria!
We’ll be back…
Visiting Vienna including Wine written by John Thackray – one of the international Thacks Awards panelists, living in Spain. When not traveling and wine-tasting, John is an iGaming specialist reporting into director level in the sports betting industry with a degree in Information Technology.
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