Vienna

Few wine regions can parallel the beauty of Austria, recently awarded (Jan 2016)  as the best wine tourism destination in Europe at the Travvy Awards, the ‘Academy Awards’ of the American travel industry. When the competition is with other breathtakingly beautiful wine regions such as Bordeaux and Tuscany, you know the level of exclusivity it implies!

It was hence, my singular privilege to be invited by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board (AWMB), a national service body for the Austrian wine industry, to visit them at VieVinum 2016 as their guest.

VieVinum is Austria’s largest and most prestigious wine fair, held every second year in Vienna Hofburg. The biennial wine festival is open for three days during the end of May/beginning of June. It invites wine enthusiasts and professionals  to taste  new wines from hundreds of Austrian producers and several international wine estates. Apart from the ‘magnum opus’, the fair incorporates supplementing events that make for a well rounded wine experience.

VieVinum 2016 was the  10th edition of of the fair which saw more than 15,000 visitors sampling wines from some 620 exhibitors.  As a special invitee to the fair, I had the advantage of privileged entry to various fixtures, offering an invaluable insight into the world of Austrian wines. Not only that, I also had the privilege to be invited two days  in advance to partake of an exclusive evening at a Viennese Heurigen (Tavern) and a colossal tasting of Salon wines, which are a selection of Austria’s most demanding wine competition.

The images attempt to tell the story of my cherished Austrian experience.