Picnic in the Vineyard
Imagine sitting on a blanket, surrounded by vineyards, and sampling local delicacies. Can you think of anything better? Find all the ingredients for a delicious snack in the picnic basket. It was arranged with a great deal of love. Home-made bread, tasty bacon, savoury cheese and seasonal fruit: sweet grapes, juicy apples or some raspberries from the farmer’s garden. Have a glass of wine from the winegrower’s cellar with it. Glasses, screwdriver, plates, cutlery and napkins - and a picnic blanket, of course - have been carefully prepared for you.
A must in every basket: some home-made cake to conclude the meal in a sweet way. Your host from the vineyard will be happy to let you in on the most scenic spots in the surroundings.
Then, you’re ready for a great picnic in the vineyard!
Harvest Time for Austrian Wine
Grape Harvest and Traditions in Autumn
When the leaves change colour in autumn, the grape harvest is about to begin. At no other time of the year, you can visit that many traditions associated with wine. From presentations of this year’s vintage, to festivities in the cellar lanes and “St Martin’s praise” (“Martiniloben”) - in the wine regions, there’s so much to experience in autumn! Another popular drink in autumn is called “Sturm”. It’s the product of fermented freshly pressed grape juice, often enjoyed around the campfire with roasted chestnuts. Depending on the wine region, location, variety, weather and level of ripeness, September is usually the start of the annual grape harvest. When the grapes are ripe, the winegrowers and their helpers flock to the vineyards with shears to hand pick the grapes bunch by bunch. The harvest is placed in hand-barrows, buckets or traditional wooden baskets and then brought to the tractor. In some regions where the terrain is flat, mechanical harvesters are used. The grapes are brought to the pressing house where the process of winemaking begins.
