Beyond Beer: The Viennese Heuriger (Wine Garden)

~Wine Culture for Beer Garden Lovers~

Exploring Europe’s beer regions is a fine way to experience a place up close. The beer, the food, the taverns, the particularities of one beer region compared to the next: all of this provides a window onto the local culture. But much as I love beer travel, sometimes I want to relax with a glass of wine after taking in the sights or hiking through the woods.

Vienna’s ideal for the adventurous imbiber. Not only is the beer scene better than you might expect, not only are the city’s Wirtshäuser (taverns) stocked with exquisite fruit schnapps from the surrounding countryside, Vienna’s also a city of wine. In fact, Vienna has more acres of vines under cultivation than any other comparably large city.

But it’s not just the wine that makes Vienna such an enjoyable city for afternoon or early evening imbibing. It’s as much the places where the Viennese congregate to enjoy their wine: the venerable Heurigen, those wine gardens or wine taverns where local winemakers serve their new wine, typically during the harvest season. Tucked into shaded courtyards or strewn across vineyards from Bisamberg in the northeast to Rodaun in the southwest, the Heuriger is the epitome of the relaxed pace of Viennese life.

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The Heuriger and the Beer Garden: A Sip of History

Much like the first beer gardens, Heurige were simple open-air taverns in the winemaker’s vineyard, a place where people could bring food to enjoy with their wine. In many ways the history of the Heuriger and the beer garden are intertwined. Both arose as leisure destinations during the late eighteenth century. And both were ushered along by royal proclamations. In a move that presaged Bavarian King Maximilian I Joseph’s famous beer garden decree of 1812, Emperor Joseph II issued a permit in 1784 allowing wine growers to sell their own wines and juices on their premises.[1]

As a result of these proclamations, both the Heuriger and the beer garden became increasingly popular antidotes to the rapid industrialization and urbanization of the nineteenth century. Both were “oases of nature” in the woods on the edge of the city. Both fulfilled — and, arguably, continue to fulfill — nostalgic yearnings for simpler times, especially when life seemed to have sped up precipitously in the nineteenth century with the arrival of trams and railways.

The Heuriger Today … Or Is It a Buschenschank?

At some point in your explorations of Vienna’s Heurigen you’ll come across the word “Buschenschank.” If the difference between a Heuriger and a Buschenschank is more a matter of semantics than anything else, the Buschenschank also provides insight into why you’ll see pine boughs hung from the facades of Heurigen and Buschenschänke.

Broadly speaking, the word “Heuriger” is short for “heuriger Wein,” or the wine of the current vintage.[2] A Heuriger does not necessarily have to produce its own wine, though in practice it often does. A Buschenschank is a wine garden or wine tavern where winemakers serve their own wine. The word “Buschenschank” goes back to the old tradition of hanging a pine bough, or “Buschen,” above the entrance when wine was being served. (Brewers did this, too: the pine bough was the precursor of the Zoigl star and other brewing symbols.)

Traditionally, Heurige and Buschenschänke were open for a short period of time over the course of the year, but nowadays several are open year round. Both Heurige and Buschenschänke still hang pine boughs from their façade on days they’re serving. They’ll also post announcements on local billboards stating that “Heute ist ausg’steckt! (or simply “Ausg’steckt!”), which means (via a few linguistic and symbolic leaps) that the wine’s flowing.

An “Achterl” of Wine and a Platter of Victuals

​That flowing wine comes in a number of varieties. The kings of the realm at Vienna’s Heurigen  are Grüner Veltliner (white) and Gemischter Satz (a white wine in which several varietals, usually from the same plot of land, are fermented together). Also popular are Gelber Muskateler (white), Welschriesling (white), Zweigelt (red), and Blaufränkisch (red).[3] Light and inexpensive “Heuriger wine” comes by the carafe, while more robust wines come by the bottle or by the glass. The standard order is “ein Achterl” (an eighth of a liter) or “ein Viertel” (a quarter liter).

After the wine itself, the most popular aspect of the Heuriger is the buffet laden with hot and cold meats, ham, smoked meat, poultry, sausages, a variety of cheeses, lard, pickled vegetables, boiled eggs, bread and rolls, potatoes, a range of salads, and even pastries and fruit for dessert. A typical Heuriger dish — one that finds its gustatory twin in beer gardens — is the Brettljause, a wooden platter stacked with cold cuts, sausages, cheeses, mustard, horse radish, and pickled vegetables. And since this is Vienna, you’ll also find Wiener Schnitzel on the à la carte menu.

If you’re in Vienna during the autumn months, Sturm is a must. Sturm is grape must that is still fermenting into wine. If you buy it fresh at the farmers’ market or from a Heuriger, you’ll notice that they don’t cork the bottle. That’s to prevent it from exploding as CO2 builds up during continued fermentation. As the name of the beverage suggests, Sturm is unexpectedly potent despite its fresh and light taste. Too much and you’ll have quite a storm going on the next day.

In Search of Times Past

The local wine is, of course, the main reason Viennese flock to the Heuriger. That, along with the tasty food gracing the Heuriger buffet. But it’s not just the wine and food. Like the beer garden, the Heuriger is a place of both tranquility and conviviality away from the bustle of the city. Outside, wooden tables under leafy trees or amid the grapevines evoke the countryside. Inside, heavy-beamed ceilings and wood paneling paint a picture of cozy Gemütlichkeit. Décor features old photos on the wall alongside engravings and paintings by local artists, objects from everyday life, or old wine-making equipment.

In short, the Heuriger is a kind of rustic ensemble that has much in common with today’s beer garden. The local wine paired with regional food, the homespun interior and the verdant exterior, and, occasionally, folk music: all of this frames and preserves a nostalgic image of country life from a bygone era.

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Postscript: Wine Gardens in the Woods and Hills around Vienna

If you’d like a break from beer next time you’re in Vienna, here are a few of my favourite spots (in no particular order), all of which are within Vienna’s city limits. If some are not set amid the vineyards themselves, they’re located in parts of Vienna that retain a village-like charm reminiscent of the days before these places became part of the big city. I’ll include the Viennese district number after the name of the village:

• Fuhrgassl-Huber (Neustift-am-Walde, 19)
• Heuriger Schübel-Auer (Nussdorf, 19)
• Mayer am Pfarrplatz-Beethovenhaus (Heiligenstadt, 19)
• Feuerwehr Wagner (Grinzing, 19)
• Heuriger Hans Maly (Grinzing, 19)
• Weingut Heuriger Christ (Jedlersdorf, 21)
• Heuriger Wieninger (Stammersdorf, 21)
• Buschenschank Familie Strauch (Strebersdorf, 21)
• Weingut und Heuriger Edelmoser (Mauer, 23)
• 10er Marie (Ottakring, 16)

The latter Heuriger, 10er Marie, is in an urbanized part of Vienna that was once a pastoral landscape of vineyards and dairy farms. As far as the other places go, it’s worth noting that Nussdorf, Heiligenstadt, Grinzing, Neustift-am-Walde, Stammersdorf, Strebersdorf, and Mauer are all home to clusters of Heurigen. You’ll also find some nice places to the south of the U1 terminus in Oberlaa as well. Also worth noting is that scores of these places are located along Vienna’s municipal hiking paths (Stadtwanderwege), which wind their way through the woods and hills surrounding Vienna. Heurige such as Mayer, Feuerwehr Wagner, and Wieninger have outposts on the Nussberg in northern Vienna.

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Endnotes

[1] The practice of displaying some sort of sign (usually a pine bough) indicating that young wine was available for consumption dates as far back as a city ordinance from 1459. (See “Heuriger” in the ever-useful Wien Geschichte Wiki run by the City of Vienna.) But it wasn’t until Joseph II’s 1784 proclamation renewed the privilege that the Heuriger as leisure destination took flight.

[2] Warning: *Read this footnote only if you’re interested in the finer points of German grammar.* Since “heurig” is an adjective that’s also used as a noun (and hence declines as an adjective in German), you’ll see numerous variations of the word, depending on where it fits grammatically in a German sentence. For example, you’ll see the word used with a definite article as “der Wiener Heurige” (Wein is implicit as the word being modified), or with the indefinite article, ein Heuriger (the most common usage). But you’ll also see die Heurigen (the Heurigers), or Wiener Heurige (Viennese Heurigers; here without the “n” because it’s a zero article plural). You’ll also see Heurige with the “n” if it’s part of a grammatical construction containing the genitive. If that has your head spinning, fear not. I’ve written this footnote simply as an indication that I’m not continually misspelling Heuriger. That said, I’m also not 100% consistent in my use of the proper grammatical spellings. (That last bit is for any Grammarly types who might object to how I’m spelling the word in certain instances.) At some point in the future I may well switch to Heuriger (single) and Heurigers (plural) when I write about the topic, even though there’s no such word as “Heurigers” in German.

[3] Heads up, beer drinkers! Gelber Muskateler is a fresh and intensely fruity muscat wine that you could consider as a bridge between beers like American IPA and the wine world. The aromatics of Gelber Muskateler feature elderflower, lychee, and grapefruit, along with background notes of spice.

All images by Franz D. Hofer

©2025 Franz D. Hofer and A Tempest in a Tankard. All rights reserved.