The southern side of the Wachau, opposite Dürnstein and Spitz, had a shadowy existence for a long time. In the meantime, however, the right bank of the Danube has also moulted - with good Heurigen and up-and-coming wineries. According to legend, the home of the autochthonous grape variety Neuburger can also be found here.
It is the favorite wine tavern of Klaus Wagner, who especially appreciates the roast pork here. And Wagner is used to good food. His wife Lisl Wagner-Bacher is one of the best cooks in the country and his son-in-law Thomas Dorfer is one of the high-flyers among Austria's top chefs. "You'll be hard-pressed to find a better Brat'l than at Pulker," Wagner says.

Pulker's Heuriger in Rührsdorf is no longer an insider tip. Although it is located on the right bank of the Danube, that side of the Wachau, which for a long time was in the shadow of the infinitely more popular left side. The left bank with places like Dürnstein, Spitz and Weißenkirchen is that region which has become world famous for landscape and wineries. This is where most tourists hang out, where renowned wineries such as F. X. Pichler, Hirtzberger and Jamek have their steep terraced sites. But there are also outstanding wineries south of the Danube.

Such as the Nikolaihof winery of the Saahs family in Mautern. From 1075, the central estate administration seat of the St. Nikolai monastery in Passau was located at this site; Roman foundations lie in the building itself. Christine and Nikolaus Saahs are among the pioneers of biodynamic viticulture in Austria. The Demeter-certified farm exports as far as Japan, among other countries. A specialty of the organic farm, which has more than half of its land planted with Riesling, are wines aged for a long time in large wooden barrels, which are marketed under the name "Vinothek". The recently tasted Riesling Vinothek 1990 matured for an incredible 14 years in barrel and today appears precise and immensely youthful.

Another first-class farm in Mautern is the Silberbichlerhof of the Hutter family, good wines also come from the Andreas Eder winery in Hundsheim. In Mauternbach the winery Buchinger and the winery Graf, in Unterbergern the family Aschauer and the winery Haiderer invite you to visit. Numerous recommendable wineries can be found in Rossatz. Heinz and Adrienne Sigl cultivate about 7.5 hectares of Grüner Veltliner and Riesling in Rossatz's top sites such as Kirnberg and Steiger, which are vinified as Federspiel as well as Smaragd.

Josef  Fischer, who lives up to his family name as a huch breeder, supplies the right wines to go with the noble fish. Other recommended names in Rossatz are Winzerhof Supperer, Günter Mayer and Fischer-Rehrl, while in Rührsdorf they are Georg Frischengruber, Günther Kendl, Matthias Gallhofer,  René Schoissengeyer and Erich Polz. In Mitterarnsdorf, Herbert Haslinger, Walter Larnsteig, Ernst Pöchlinger and Gottfried Pöchlinger are worthwhile addresses for farm-gate shopping, in Oberarnsdorf it is Karin Hick, Manfred and Maria Hick, Anton Machherndl and Ewald Wintner.

Popular addresses in the area can be found below and in the Falstaff database:
www.falstaff.at/heurige

From Falstaff Magazine No. 03/2014