Friday, April 10, 2015

What is a Heuringen Dinner?

Here's an explanation of a Heuringen Dinner copied & edited from a Trip Advisor excerpt, and this is what our final night out in Vienna will entail:

Many visitors to Vienna wish to visit a Heurigen (wine tavern). 

Heuriger means "this year's wine", and the Heurigen began as a way for winemakers to offer tastings of their new wine with a few nibbles, and hopefully sell a few bottles. 

With the advent of mass tourism, Heurigen evolved into year-round ventures serving full meals, often accompanied by traditional Viennese Schrammel music played on the accordion and violin."

Many only serve drinks at your table, and for food you must visit the buffet (sorry not all you can eat) food is nicely displayed- THIS DINNER IS INCLUDED IN OUR TOUR PRICE. Then just return to your table.
Depending on the season some special things are available...here's a description of the wines!
Most- cloudy looking grape juice not yet fermented- very sweet.
Sturm- watch out! This partially-fermented grape juice is stronger than you think. It has a light, fruity taste and a kick like a mule. It can also cause digestive distress when drunk in quanity( more than 3 glasses) a quick visit to a restroom is often needed
Many drink a Gespritzter or spritzer  - a mix of soda water and wine. White wine also mixes well with Almdudler, a local herb-based soda, to make a Bauernmischung.
Wines available- will vary by place. Vienna is primarily a white-wine producing area, though reds are also very good.
White
GrĂ¼ner Veltliner-   fruity and found almost everywhere as probably most produced variety in the area.
Riesling- mild and aromatic
Neuburger- often taste a little like nuts
Red
Zweigelt-   good deep red , fruity
Blauer Burgunder - also fruity

FOOD

Food offered in Heuriger tends to be of the simple, alcohol-soaking variety, and is usually traditional Austrian "drinking food".

Liptauer Brot - a cream cheese and paprika mix served on bread
Schinken - ham
schweinsbraten - pork roast
sauerkraut or krautsalat- a warm cabbage pickled in vinegar
kartoffelsalat - potato salad (the Austrian version is slightly different from the British/American, and usually includes some red onion).
Sauerbraten - roast pork, previously marinated in vinegar to give a sour taste. Nicer than it sounds.
Wiener Schnitzel of course - usually either turkey (von der Pute) or pork (vom Schwein).

MUSIC

There's a good chance the musicians will stop by your table play and ask if you have any requests. Often these guys know thousands of songs - do not be timid ask for what you want - a small tip 2-3 euro will be accepted

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