During harvest season (late September through October), Domane Wachau occasionally opens its Durnstein cellar in the evenings for informal tasting of wines in barrel or tank alongside the current release.
The list: Evening harvest tasting sessions at Domane Wachau during September and October, when the cooperative opens the cellar for informal pours of new-vintage wine in various stages of fermentation alongside the current release range.
Address: Durnstein 107, 3601 Durnstein, Wachau
Weingut Prager accepts appointment-based tastings during the summer and autumn season, offering vertical flights of their benchmark Smaragd Riesling from the steep Klaus and Wachstum Bodenstein parcels.
The list: By-appointment tastings at Weingut Prager, including vertical flights of Smaragd Riesling across multiple vintages from the Wachstum Bodenstein and Klaus single-vineyard parcels above Weissenkirchen.
F.X. Pichler is the Wachau producer most often cited by international critics, and appointment tastings here provide access to the estate's M and Unendlich Smaragd tier, which is allocated on mailing lists.
The list: By-appointment tasting at F.X. Pichler including the M and Unendlich Smaragd bottlings of Gruner Veltliner and Riesling, available for serious wine visitors in afternoon or evening sessions.
An appointment tasting at Nikolaihof is a visit to the deepest layer of Wachau wine history: a Demeter-certified estate on a property documented to 985 AD. The Saahs family's personal walkthrough of the cellar and vinothek is an exceptional wine-education experience.
The list: Appointment-based tasting at Nikolaihof, a Mautern wine estate with documented winemaking to 985 AD and Demeter certification since 1971. Visits include the Vinothek (library wines) and current-release Wachau DAC range.
Emmerich Knoll's Unterloiben cellar accepts appointment visits, and a tasting here covers the full range from Steinfeder through the landmark Kellerberg Gruner Veltliner and Loibenberg Riesling at Smaragd level.
The list: Appointment-based tasting at Emmerich Knoll covering the full range from Steinfeder through Kellerberg and Loibenberg Smaragd. One of the benchmark Wachau tasting experiences.
Schlumberger (Sekt producer founded 1842 in Vienna) has a tasting presence in Krems where visitors can taste their range of traditional-method and Charmat sparkling wines.
The list: The Schlumberger Sekt (Austrian sparkling wine) producer has a presence in Krems offering tastings of their traditional-method and Charmat-method Austrian sparkling wines alongside Lower Austria still wines. A Sekt specialist in the gateway city of the Wachau.
The Loisium hotel's bar in Langenlois (20 minutes from the Wachau) maintains a Sekt and sparkling selection alongside the main still-wine list. A design-hotel sparkling room setting with architectural distinction.
The list: The Loisium hotel bar maintains a selection of Austrian Sekt and sparkling wines by the glass in the contemporary hotel lounge, drawing on Kamptal and Lower Austrian sparkling producers.