All roads lead to Vienna

Once every two years, all (wine) roads lead to Vienna: during Austria's biggest wine event, VieVinum. The historic Hofburg Palace is then the setting for a three-day fair where more than 500 producers present their wines. WINELIFE immersed itself in Austrian wine, culture and Gemütlichkeit During a regal - or rather imperial - wine trip! - TEXT KARIN LEEUWENHOEK | IMAGE PEXELS.COM

All roads lead to Vienna

I already knew that VieVinum was well organised, but the event exceeded even my high expectations. The fairy-tale historic location, the size of the fair, the quality of the wines, communication, service, the glassware, all the trimmings - including a goodie bag containing the most stylish spit vase I have ever seen. VieVinum began on Saturday, but journalists and other invited guests were welcome as early as Thursday evening for a big get-together in a typical Viennese catering phenomenon: the Heuriger. More on that in a moment, as I will start at the beginning.

Clean city

At Wien-Schwechat airport, the taxi driver is already waiting. Who drives me, together with a fellow British wine journalist who happened to arrive at the same time, to the Flemings Selection Hotel in the heart of Vienna in half an hour. In the hotel lobby, Austrian Wine, the marketing organisation for the Austrian wine industry and organiser of this press trip, has also set up its own check-in desk for us. Well arranged. 1,000 trade visitors from 53 different countries are expected these days, but not for a moment do I feel like a number. What is striking about Vienna even in the evening: it is clean, spacious and, certainly for a big city, quite chic. And therefore quiet and organised in a pleasant way. The city even smells clean, you hear relatively many birds, and joggers and cyclists have all the space they need on the wide boulevards. Well, in a city that has vineyards and where wine is made, you can't help but feel good! And then these days, the weather is beautiful. Bright blue skies and sunshine.

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Want to know more about Vienna? You'll read about it in WINELIFE 79. You can order this one here!

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