The hotel Schloss Durnstein, occupying a 17th-century Renaissance castle on the Danube at Durnstein, offers cellar evening tastings in its original stone vault. One of the most atmospheric wine settings in the Wachau, available to hotel guests.
The list: The hotel's historic vaulted cellar hosts wine tasting evenings for house guests, featuring vertical flights of Wachau Smaragd wines poured by the sommelier in a Baroque stone cellar setting beneath the castle.
Address: Durnstein 2, 3601 Durnstein, Wachau
The Richard Lowenherz hotel in Durnstein occupies a former monastery building and maintains an exceptional wine cellar. Their dinner evenings in the Gothic vault are a benchmark Wachau wine-tourism experience.
The list: Wine dinners in the vaulted Gothic cellar of the Hotel Richard Lowenherz in Durnstein, pairing the hotel's extensive Wachau wine collection with regional cuisine menus.
Open to non-staying guests during the day and early evening, the terrace lounge at Schloss Durnstein is the valley's most photographed wine-drinking setting: a Renaissance castle terrace looking west over the Danube curve with vineyard terraces on the opposite bank.
The list: The riverside terrace lounge at Schloss Durnstein serves Wachau wines by the glass looking directly over the Danube and the vineyard terraces. One of the most scenic outdoor wine-drinking spaces in the region.
Loibnerhof's dinner format pairs multi-course seasonal menus with vertical Smaragd wine flights. Reservations are essential and the event calendar fills weeks in advance during peak season.
The list: Multi-course wine dinners at Loibnerhof, the Wachau's foremost wine-focused restaurant, pairing aged Smaragd wines with regional produce in an intimate dining room overlooking the Danube vineyard terraces.
A cellar tour and tasting at Stift Gottweig monastery combines the historic atmosphere of a working Benedictine abbey with tasting of the estate's own Gottweiger Berg wines. One of the most distinctive evening wine experiences within half an hour of the Wachau.
The list: The Benedictine monastery of Gottweig hosts seasonal evening cellar tours with tasting of the monastery's own Riesling and Gruner Veltliner in the historic Baroque vaulted cellars.
The Richard Lowenherz hotel in Durnstein occupies a former monastery building and maintains an exceptional wine cellar. Their dinner evenings in the Gothic vault are a benchmark Wachau wine-tourism experience.
The list: Wine dinners in the vaulted Gothic cellar of the Hotel Richard Lowenherz in Durnstein, pairing the hotel's extensive Wachau wine collection with regional cuisine menus.
The most scenic outdoor evening wine setting in the Wachau is the Loibnerhof terrace overlooking the Danube. On summer evenings the terrace is open to non-dining guests for aperitif or wine-only visits.
The list: The terrace at Loibnerhof looking over the Danube vineyard terraces is available for evening aperitif and dessert-wine pours on fine summer evenings, with a selection of library Smaragd wines and Wachau late-harvest rarities.
The Loisium wine hotel and spa is 20 minutes from the Wachau in Langenlois and is a natural extension of a Wachau visit. The lounge serves Kamptal and Wachau wines in a striking contemporary hotel with an underground maze of centuries-old wine cellars beneath.
The list: The lounge at the Loisium hotel (Steven Holl architecture) serves a curated list of Kamptal and Wachau wines by the glass in a design-hotel setting, with access to the underground cellar labyrinth and wine spa.
Open to non-staying guests during the day and early evening, the terrace lounge at Schloss Durnstein is the valley's most photographed wine-drinking setting: a Renaissance castle terrace looking west over the Danube curve with vineyard terraces on the opposite bank.
The list: The riverside terrace lounge at Schloss Durnstein serves Wachau wines by the glass looking directly over the Danube and the vineyard terraces. One of the most scenic outdoor wine-drinking spaces in the region.