Since the 18th century, winemakers have had permission to sell some of their young wines directly to the public and many have chosen to do this in restaurants that they own. Starting about ten days after the harvest nearly every heurigen in Vienna (there are nearly 500 within a twenty minute drive of the center of town) offers their customers the chance to drink "strum", the fermenting juice before it even becomes wine. Then, every year, on the 11th of November, each of these restaurateur-winemakers hang pine branches over their doors, indicating that their white wines are now fully ready to drink. So long as the pine branches are hung, potential customers know that the young wine is still available.
Typified by freshness, crisp dryness and fruitiness, there is nothing sophisticated or complex about these wines, but they make for absolutely marvelous drinking, especially when accompanied by simple traditional Austrian foods. Fresh, fruity, clean and nicely acidic, these remain among the most charming of all the world's young wines, and it seems perfectly appropriate that most places serve them in thick mugs that hold a quarter of a liter rather than in puny wine glasses. Meant to be drunk in large mouthfuls, these wine are considered by nearly all Austrians as ideal accompaniments to absolutely any kind of food. My own experience, shows that these wines go as well with potato salad, Wiener schnitzels, smoked ham, fried bacon, goose liver or cucumber salad as with the highly aromatic cheeses of the countryside. The owner of one heurigen told me with a smile that these young wines are so pleasant that they will "make you fall in love with whatever woman happens to be sitting next to you". One word or advice, however - no matter how often you fall in love or how enchanted you become with these wines, do not buy them to bring home with you, for the wines that are offered at heurigen come directly from oak casks, and lose much of their charm when they are bottled. Nor, because they are meant to be drunk quite young, are most of these wines very good after they pass their first birthday.

Those wanting to do serious (or not at all serious) tastings of these wines will find that many of the best heurigen are in Vienna's 19th quarter. Three of the very best, for both the quality of their wine and food are Beethovenhaus, which is owned by the winemaking family of Franz Mayer; Welser Werner, which since 1857 has been owned by the winemaking firm of Johann Katus; and Figlmuller, which in addition to its lovely wine, is also famous for serving Wiener schnitzels so large that they overhang the edges of 30 centimeter large plates. Figlmuller also has a branch near Saint Stephan's Cathedral in the old part of Vienna.

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© Daniel Rogov