Since the late Middle Ages, grapevines grew within the city walls – even in today’s downtown 1st District... But now the focus of wine production lies at the city limits, where vineyard sites on the Bisamberg north of the Danube River – cultivated by growers in Strebersdorf, Stammersdorf and Jedlersdorf – are particularly well suited to members of the Pinot family. From Ottakring across Hernals up to Pötzleinsdorf, and above all in the 19th District – in the communities of Heiligenstadt, Nussdorf, Grinzing, Sievering and Neustift am Walde – Riesling, Chardonnay and Weissburgunder are favoured, growing on the varied limestone-rich soils. In the south of Vienna – Rodaun, Mauer and Oberlaa, with soils of rendzina, brown and black earth – opulent red wine cuvées and robust whites flourish. But there is nary a winegrower who forgoes the opportunity to produce Vienna’s traditional Gemischter Satz, in which various white grape varieties are planted together, harvested together and subsequently fermented into wine together. One important discovery of recent years has been the top site Nussberg, which has magically drawn young and imaginative winegrowers from all parts of the city – as well as career changers with the love of wine.

And the age-old attraction of the Viennese Heurigen (the city’s famous wine taverns) has not lost any of its appeal in the modern age. Regardless of whether it is a ‘noble’ Heuriger with an expansive buffet open year-round, or a little hidden ‘Buschenschank’ with only a few weeks in the season – each serves as a magnet for visitors – for Viennese natives as well as for tourists. Even the most sophisticated wine lovers now find their way to the Heurigen, since there is an ever-increasing selection of top wines being offered by the glass. To aid Vienna in preserving her vineyards for the future as a natural heritage and cultural landscape, a new Viennese state law compellingly prescribes that vineyards located within the city limits must be cultivated, thus protecting valuable vineyard sites from real estate speculators. In total, 637 hectares are planted today within Vienna's city limits. - www.austrianwine.com