Vienna is the only European capital that has vineyards within its city limits.
A popular weekend pastime, especially in the autumn, is to go wine hiking in the country lanes; stopping off to eat lunch and drink young wines in the vineyard taverns known as Heuriger. There are around one hundred heuriger in the hills around Vienna. One of the most popular areas for them is Nussdorf, which is where I spent my last day.
To get out there, I took the D tram to the Nussdorf stop at the end of the line and just started walking uphill. My map here.
To get an idea of what the food is like, watch from 33.43 on No Reservations. Bourdain ate and drank at Heuriger Zahel in another wine area to the south of Vienna.
Unfortunately, as I discovered too late, many Heuriger are only open at the weekend, and as I had spent mine visiting my father in the Czech Republic (see next post), I missed out on this experience.
On the plus side, I still had a nice walk and got some fantastic views of the vines in their autumn colours with the city as a backdrop.
And I also got to go to the restaurant below back in Nussdorf…
Zum Renner – Wiener Gastlichkeit (Intermediate A), 4 Nußdorfer Plass, www.zum-renner.at
This venerable old gasthof (inn) has achieved institution status having been in the same family since 1899. This means it really is a good idea to reserve before you go as it’s very popular with the locals. It might be easier in the summer when the outdoor section in the courtyard is open, but then again it might not. I was lucky to get a seat at a large communal table.
The menu is very traditional, as is the décor and the waiters’ attire (leather shorts and breeches).
They are very proud of their aged beef, which is another good reason to eat here. The menu has all the usual classics like schnitzel and tafelspitz, but I fancied trying something else…
To begin I had some deep-fried breaded black pudding served with raw grated horseradish, lambs lettuce and a potato salad made with pumpkin seed oil (A).
At the waiter’s suggestion, I followed this up with some excellent beef striploin with deep fried potatoes, fried onions and gravy (A).
Finally, a shot of walnut liqueur, purely for digestive purposes of course.
A great restaurant, definitely recommended.
And that my friends was the end of my trip to Vienna. I spent a very enjoyable six nights here, but I still need to return as there’s plenty I haven’t done. The wine hiking day is usually the last weekend of September, which conincides with my birthday…
In the middle of my trip I popped over the border to Brno in the Czech Republic for two nights, more of which next…
There is, I think, still a very small vineyard in Paris, in Montmartre near the Place du Teatre. They usually have a Fête des Vendanges on the second weekend in October. See here: https://www.comitedesfetesdemontmartre.com/?p=4