Wine Specialities
Past years have seen an increase in the sale of bottled wines.
The number of bottled wines available on the market, especially wines in 0.75 litre bottles, has increased significantly during the past years. To take account of this development, 18 top vintners have started a special marketing initiative for Viennese wine by founding an association called "Vienna Classic".
According to this marketing strategy, selected wines from top regions are pressed under clearly defined conditions. The matured wines, dry or medium dry, must have a minimum alcohol content of twelve percent alcohol by volume. High quality standards are guaranteed by strict checks on vineyards before the harvest, a limited wine yield of no more than 5.000 litres per hectare, and a tasting commission which tests the quality of every wine to be sold with the Vienna Classic label. Vienna Classic focuses on Riesling, White Burgundy, Chardonnay and red wines.
The City of Vienna and the wine
The City of Vienna also produces its own wine. The vineyards of the city at the Kobenzl - the largest in Vienna - are equally among the members of Vienna Classic. The vineyards are part of Municipal Department 49 (Forestry Office and Urban Agriculture).
However, this is not the only way in which the City contributes to keeping the long-standing Viennese tradition of viticulture alive: since 1989, the Vienna City Administration has granted subsidies for newly planted vineyards. This policy has remained unchanged after Austria's accession to the EU and is generally quite exceptional, given that other Austrian Federal Provinces offer premiums for cutting down vineyards. In Vienna, some 180 hectares of vineyards have been newly planted since 1989.
Preserving the cultural heritage of wine and viticulture as well as maintaining the typical landscape and the old village centres of wine-growing regions has absolute priority for the City of Vienna.
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