Paula Maia's Wine blog

Heuriger is pretty much an Austrian wine tavern where wineries serve their latest vintage or their freshest wines along with traditional Austrian food. Heueriger means ‘this year’, which refers to this year’s harvest. The word comes from the Latin ‘hodie’, meaning ‘this day’, however it wasn’t until 1784 that emperor Joseph II allowed Viennese vintners to sell their home-made products that Heurigers were born.

As charming as it can be, many Heurigers are in the middle or surrounded by vineyards, and most have communal wooden tables in the garden where one must try a Sturm. Another Austrian tradition, Sturm is made of both red and white freshly pressed grape juice known as must. Highly anticipated and sold for only a few weeks, Sturm is slightly carbonated, thick and cloudy like a juice, but infinitely better.

Only a couple of tram stops away, Grinzing is the best known place to visit a Heuriger, although plenty of others can be found within and around Vienna.  A part of every day life, Heurigers attracts locals and tourists craving a part of Vienna life style. Grinzing is a sublime place to watch the sunset overlooking both the vineyards and Vienna. I cannot think of anything more romantic than drinking my wine under the stars on a hot summer night.

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The next day my friend Silvana and I took a train from Munich’s Hauptbahnhof to Vienna, capital of Austria and UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001. Founded around 500BC, Vienna was once the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that ended after the first World War in 1918. The city though, seems to have been preserved in its grandiosity.

Culture life in Vienna is at all times sizzling. Home to a number of opera houses, theaters, museums, churches and famous for its architecture and design, Vienna is a true metropolis with a medium town feeling. With an abundance of outdoor spaces, it seems like the Viennese really know how to enjoy life. Everywhere you look there’s a Kaffeehaus, a Biergarten or a Gästehaus, where one can enjoy an Apfelstrudel, a glass of Grüner, a Schnitzel or simply stare in wonder.

We were in Vienna for only 5 days, which is enough time to get to know the city, visit most prominent sites and- if you are lucky- even catch an opera for $6 Euros a pop. However, if you fall in love with Vienna, like I did, then you probably will never get enough of it. I cannot wait to go back, but in the meantime I rejoice in local alternatives as close as a block away from home.

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Breakfast in Italy, lunch in Austria, dinner in Germany, oh the good life I have! Besides the natural anatomy of those countries, and the fact that if you drive from Germany to Italy you must cross Austria, it still sounds utterly decadent to be in three countries in one day.

Also in the Alps and surrounded by three very high mountains, Innsbruck is an international winter sports destination. In 1964 and in 1976, Innsbruck hosted the Winter Olympics and the First Winter Youth Olympics of 2012 is being held in Innsbruck as well.

Believe it or not, the day we were there they were having a festival that happens only every 20 years. We beat the odds of this all-weekend drink and dance fest that had most residents celebrating in traditional costumes. After checking out the altstadt we stopped at Stiftskeller for a Wiener Schnitzel and a Gruner Veltliner. By 10 o’clock we were back in Munich having- you guessed- another Schnitzel, this time with an Augustiner-Braeu.

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Romeo and Juliet were lucky to have had so many good wines on hand. Being from Verona, a beautiful Roman city in the Veneto, the two had Soave, Bardolino and Valpolicella within 5 miles or less. Pioneer in implementing the first wine road, or strada del vino, and to open Italy’s first wine school, the Veneto has more DOC wines than any other wine region in Italy.

This time around we decided to stick with sigh seeing and not visit any producer as we barely had a weekend. The first night we spent in Verona and the second in Lake Garda, another famous tourist destination in the Veneto, and one I was looking forward to visiting. Now I know why it attracts so many people. All tackiness aside, the place is magnificent.

We climbed Monte Baldo, not on foot or on bicycle like most people, but embarrassingly by car. Nonetheless, we got to the top and enjoyed the breath-taking view of Lake Garda just like everyone else, without breaking a sweat. I just wish we had a bottle of the local Bardolino to enjoy while up there.

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Ciao Bolzano! or should I say Halo Bozen?

Bolzano or Bozen is one of the two provinces that make up the region of Trentino-Alto Adige, in the northernmost part of Italy. Südtirol as it is known in German, has a long history. The south of the region around the city of Trento has always been Italian, while Alto Adige, in the north around Bolzano, was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Since 1918 the whole region has been officially Italian, but 75% of the population still speaks German.

Alto Adige is mostly in the Alps, where only 15% of the land is suitable for cultivation. Wine-making is limited and challenging, and yet, it is the region that exports the highest proportion of its production. Such conditions reflect in the price, but the quality is generally worth it. The style is usually light, dry and high in acidity, with varietal labels of native and international varieties.

On the southern counterpart, Trentino is a major source of commercial Pinot Grigio from much less challenging slopes. Both regions also produce small amounts of reds from local black grapes. On our way to the Veneto we had lunch in Bolzano, or Bozen, in a nice traditional ristorante. It was my first time in Italy, but it didn’t feel like it until we crossed Trento.

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Our last night in Portugal was well spent in Lisbon. First things first: before hitting the town we relaxed in the hotel’s courtyard in the company of a sparkling Vinho Verde, 100% Alvarinho grape. Super nice and crisp, it helped us to come up with the plan.  We would start with drinks at Chiado and then have dinner at Bairro Alto, both in Downtown.

Cervejaria Trindade- Portugal’s oldest brewery and  Lisbon‘s Cultural Heritage- is housed in a gorgeous 13th century monastery. The building had been nearly totally destroyed by a fire in 1708, and again by an earthquake in 1755. In was only in 1834 that the Cervejaria was built within the remaining walls of the monastery, where murals depicts the 4 seasons and the 4 elements in hand painted azulejos.

Next morning I rushed through Alfama, the Se’s Cathedral and the St. George’s Castle, but with so many options and so little time I decided that another trip to Lisbon is the way to go. Next time I’ll stay at Praia de Caparica, a beach town across Lisbon and work my way south towards the Algarve. I wonder if I mind as well buy just a one way ticket.

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Lunch in Tomar was bucolic, the city though, surprisingly pretty. Founded as headquarters of the Knights Templar in the 12th century, Tomar is home to some of the most significant monuments in Europe. The best example is the The Convent of Christ of Tomar- part of Unesco’s World Heritage since 1983.

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Capital of Portugal during the First Dinasty, Coimbra was another pleasant surprise. Although a bit too hilly for me, the university town is really, really beautiful. Founded in 1290, Coimbra’s University is one of the oldest in Europe and famous for its monumental architecture and vibrant cultural life.

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Waking up at Quinta Nova Nossa Senhora do Carmo and seeing the Douro first thing in the morning was one of the highlights of this trip. Swimming in their pool amidst the vineyards was dream like or movie like. In fact I did feel like a celebrity drinking a bottle of their 3 Pomards white blend in a crystal glass between dips. That didn’t last long as we had to get ready to go to the next wine region: the Dao.

The mesmerizing scenery inspired us to drive through the Serra da Estrela and not take the main road.  Little did we know that the Serra da Estrela is not only Portugal’s highest mountain range at 1993 meters of altitude, but also a stunningly beautiful Natural Park famous for skiing and for its cheese, which recipe date from medieval times.

As we approached the top of the Serra, the road was almost inexistent, and besides the lights coming from the car, it was pitch black and cold up there. Nearly 7 hours later we made to our hotel- off the beaten path and away from all the wineries I wanted to visit-  I was trilled to simply slip under the covers. For the first time I didn’t even think about wine.

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