Happy Birthday, Cobenzl Vineyards!

The City of Vienna's vineyards celebrate their 100th anniversary on 1 and 2 September 2007 - a perfect opportunity to get to know Vienna's prize-winning wines better.

History of the vineyards

Cobenzl Vineyards are located high above Vienna, on Höhenstrasse in the district of Döbling. The vineyards take their name from Count Cobenzl, who established a country mansion and gardens here at the end of the 18th century. The property changed hands several times during the course of the 19th century before it was finally acquired by Vienna Council in the year 1907.

For a long time the estate was run as a dairy farm with general agricultural applications, including the keeping of livestock. To the delight of children, we are reminded of this to this day by the "city farm" opposite, with pigs, chickens, goats and other domesticated animals kept under ideal conditions.

With typical understatement, vineyard manager Thomas Podsednik describes how the emphasis has shifted to winegrowing in recent years: "We first made sure that the cellars were in order, then the vineyards themselves, and of course we also stage events at which we present our wines."

Success story

Today Cobenzl Vineyards are one of Vienna's largest winegrowing establishments, with 35 hectares of grape vines. Two thirds of the vineyards are located on the prestigious slopes of Grinzing and Nussberg, and one third is visible on the other side of the River Danube, on the sunny slopes of Bisamberg. Cobenzl produces over 100,000 litres of wine every year.

Various traditional varieties of white wine grape such as Grüner Veltliner, Riesling and Weissburgunder fare well in the different vineyards, but they also produce Blauer Zweigelt and red wine cuvées. The estate's white wines, in particular, often win prizes at wine fairs - like the Weissburgunder from Cobenzl that took this year's Vienna Wine Prize.

Cobenzl wines also enjoy an excellent international reputation. For instance the renowned "Beverage Testing Institute" in Chicago/USA gave three wines a rating of "recommended". It virtually goes without saying that the vineyard also belongs to the "Vienna Classic" brand along with a handful of other first-rate winegrowers.

Cobenzl Vineyards are one of over 300 winegrowing enterprises in Vienna, which between them produce some 2.2 million litres of wine a year from over 700 hectares of vines. This makes Vienna the world's only capital city that is also a winegrowing region.

Anniversary programme

When a vineyard celebrates such an anniversary, it goes without saying that there will be tours of the cellars and press house. But at Cobenzl they have had some additional ideas. These include a special exhibition to mark the occasion, a varied live programme of heuriger and jazz music, and fairytales and storytellers for children. The festivities start at 1 p.m. on Saturday, 1 September, and at 10 a.m. on Sunday, 2 September, and admission is free.

You can reach Cobenzl easily on the 38A bus, which you can take either from the Heiligenstadt terminal of the U4, or from the terminal of the 38 tram in Grinzing. On both days there will also be a free "Vienna Heuriger Express" running between Grinzing and Cobenzl. This "choo choo train" will go down particularly well with the children.

And even after the anniversary celebrations it will of course be possible to enjoy Cobenzl wines at the vineyards. The "Waldgrill" wine tavern in the courtyard of the estate is open daily during the summer (April till October), and daily except Mondays and Tuesdays in winter (November till March).

Further information: Viennese Wine – a Quality Product

Link

www.weingutcobenzl.at