The best of the best: Falstaff brings together the 580 best wine taverns in Austria in the new guide.
Wine taverns and Buschenschanken are an integral part of local culture. Nowhere else can you enjoy a good glass of wine as relaxed as here – in the open air and often with a breathtaking view. The brand new Falstaff Heurigen & Buschenschank Guide tells you where to find the best establishments. At the first sign of good weather, people are drawn outside – and straight into the wine taverns. No wonder; is there anything more pleasurable than a glass of wine al fresco, especially with a view over the vineyards? As a guest, you can feel and taste how close you literally are to the producer of wine and the traditionally cold delicacies.
Here you are literally sitting at the manufacturer's kitchen table. The visit is uncomplicated and light-hearted, able to lift your spirits in an almost magical way. This year Falstaff has once again selected the best wine taverns in Austria.
Throughout the year, the Falstaff online community votes for the best wine taverns and Bueschenschanken in Austria. These guest ratings are used to compile a democratic overall rating for each establishment, which is published once a year in this guide.
Judging takes place in four individual categories:
The highest possible total score is 100 points.
Heurigen & Buschenschank Guide 2024 E-Paper
Wieninger am Nussberg – 97 Falstaff points
The house slogan, "Enjoy on the sea terrace above Vienna" is only confusing at first glance. Once you have found your way to Fritz Wieninger's Schank-Hütte on the Nussberg, you understand the double truth. Because the single-vineyard wines such as the Gemischter Satz Ried Ulm come from the fossilised limestone of the primeval ocean. And as if on a terrace, you can enjoy the view over the sea – of the waving vines and the houses in the capital.
The recent departure of Sigi Machatschek went smoothly. He had been there as Master of Ceremonies since 2014, when Wieninger acquired the winery from Stefan Hajszan and Heinz Neumann and took over the magic place. The generational change also speaks for the professional management of the Open-Air-Buschenschank. With the Charlotte and Hendrik team, however, the existing kitchen line will be continued; the best gourmet dishes from Viennese manufacturers such as Gissinger or Thum, Wachauer Laberl from Schmidl and Blunzn from Dormayer. Simply delicious!
Kellerschlössel-Heuriger – 98 Falstaff points
What started in spring 2019 with an initial trial balloon in front of the Kellerschlössel has developed brilliantly. They make themselves scarce, but there is never a day when the 180 or so seats are not stretched to the limit.
It was a conscious decision to choose the menu of a real wine tavern. A lot would have been possible in this location and with the cooperative's resources. But this is how the tavern culture and its cold delicacies were honoured. The wines are another asset alongside the baroque castle. Mature Veltliners and Rieslings can be enjoyed by the glass. Sometimes even bottles from the 1980s are on offer. And, of course, there is the extra map, backed by Roman Horvath, MW, and Heinz Frischengruber, two of Austria's most profound connoisseurs. You can talk shop about reductive expansion and petrol with relish. This is entirely in keeping with the genius loci.
After all, today's Heurigen location was commissioned by the Dürnstein provost to serve pure joie de vivre. And it does!
Pulker's Heuriger – 98 Falstaff points, ex aequo
Establishing itself at the top of the wine tavern scene in the largest wine region in Austria is an achievement in itself. Especially as the Wachau's top wines are not necessarily the light stuff for the bar. Bernd Pulker therefore pursues a dual strategy, which has its counterpart in the building: just as the children can run around outside with a view of the Danube, there is the playful option of Pulker's house wine for the grown-ups. Those who take up the few seats directly in front of the house, on the other hand, have other bottles served – Smaragd can be, but does not have to be. Sometimes it becomes Latour rather than Loibenberg. However, the top heuriger is not aloof: those who want to enjoy their Blunzn bread under the vine arbor are just as welcome. After all, Rührsdorf's neighbors – by no means all of them winegrowers, but they too are fine – can be found at Pulker's, as can friends from far and wide who enjoy his legendary roast and rare wines. So there are a number of reasons that have once again brought this Heurigen to the top; and this results in a double victory in the Wachau – which will delight Heurigen nostalgics in the region!
Gut Drauf – Heuriger at Gut Oggau – 97 Falstaff points
The large wine family that gathers around Stephanie and Eduard Tscheppe-Eselböck already includes some edgy characters: Theodora, Joschuari, Emmeram, Winifred and Timotheus, to name but a few. In addition to these internationally award-winning wines with the portrait drawings on the label, this year's bar season at the Oggauer Hof has also seen the arrival of a new culinary relative: Lisa Machian and her husband Arnaud Champetier are cooking up Gut Oggau with the creations that have become famous at Café Caché in Vienna-Fünfhaus. The duo's fresh breeze added French-Levantine chords to the Pannonian bass of the relaxed natural wine Dorado. And that really rocks! For example, the Ricotta Maison, which tastes even fresher with peas and fennel. But the Sour chicken with cumin also knows how to please. Or the Zucchini Baba Ganoush, which stands alongside the Seewinkler bean hummus. Liptauer is everywhere anyway! Let's put it this way: the familiar étagères on the Heurigen tables are shining in new facets this summer.
Familienweingut Oberer Germuth – 96 Falstaff points
"Oops! ... They did it again", you could congratulate Britney Spears. The US pop singer may not be so fond of the Heurigen, but the Germuths are all the more so. Which is why it was once again voted the best wine tavern in the country. As a well-rehearsed team, Heidi and Resi give free rein to their imagination and turn even a simple salad into a visual highlight. The creations from the kitchen are then brought to the table by the four men: tourism pioneer Herbert, Stefan, Markus and Matthias. The plates are based on local delicacies – sometimes raw ham, then venison, but also sheep's cheese and scarlet runner beans (we are in Styria after all!). As with the excellent implementation of down-to-earth delicacies, the mix at this Buschenschank is generally just right. The view over Leutschach from the panoramic terrace, the wines classified according to the Goldspeer, but above all the warmth and ease with which all this is presented to the guest, scored points once again. And maybe Britney will come by sometime...
You can find even more wine taverns and Buschenschanken with their address, website and the latest opening dates in our Falstaff wine tavern app.
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