Open cellar day: Four winemakers present winegrowing in the region

What sounded like a joke for a long time is now a tasty reality: winemaking has also arrived in Wels, Eferding and Grieskirchen. Four winemakers who are developing this relatively new business area will be giving insights into their work at the “Open Cellar Day” on Saturday, June 8th.

The Kronbergerhof in Scharten is also taking part, where a Frizzante was bottled for the first time last year. “We started with the grapes because they go well with our fresh range,” says fruit farmer Georg Roithmeier.

In 2017, he planted the first vines, first sold grapes and later produced grape juice – the road to wine was not far. “I did some training, and last year we bottled our Frizzante for the first time,” says the farmer. The result was so well received by customers that the second vintage is planned for this year – more than 1,000 bottles.

The new winemaker sees a future for winegrowing in Scharten: “The conditions are very good. We have expanded the area this year and will also experiment with other varieties.” Other companies in the fruit-growing community are already planting vines.

Demand is growing

Armin Kienesberger from Schlüßlberg has already made an appearance in the wine industry. His creations, from white to sparkling and rosé wines to red wines, have already won several awards. “We don’t have to hide our wines in Upper Austria. My fellow winemakers from other federal states confirm this,” he says.

His Demeter-certified wines have been finding many buyers in Salzburg and Vienna for some time now. “In our state, they have so far been a topic mainly for experts. But slowly, acceptance is also becoming so great here that we are becoming interesting for people who otherwise choose wines from the Wachau and Burgenland,” he says. On open cellar day, he invites people to his newly designed wine cellar in Grieskirchen. There, guests can look around, ask Kienesberger and his team questions about production – and of course taste the end result.

Also taking part on Saturday are the Aichinger winery in Hartkirchen and the Trattnachtaler Weinhaus in Schlüßlberg. There will be guided tours and tastings from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The open cellar day was initiated by the Upper Austrian Chamber of Agriculture. There are now 40 winemakers in our state, growing 70 different grape varieties. Around two thirds of the vineyard area is planted with white grapes, one third with red.

“It is very impressive how dynamically winegrowing is developing in Upper Austria. But it is not just the growth in terms of area, the quality of the wines is also becoming more and more convincing,” says Chamber President Franz Waldenberger.