Wein und Co is Austria's leading wine retail chain and the Krems location serves as a wine bar in the evenings, with a consistently good Wachau and Lower Austrian selection. A reliable evening stop in Krems for visitors who want a broad-range tasting experience.
The list: Wein und Co's Krems branch is open into the evening, offering a broad by-the-glass selection of Austrian wines including Wachau producers, with a relaxed wine-bar atmosphere and occasional tasting events.
Address: Obere Landstrasse 6, 3500 Krems an der Donau, Wachau
A village gasthaus rather than a tourist wine bar, the Alte Riedmuehle in Spitz has a relaxed evening atmosphere where local winegrowers are regulars. A useful evening stop when visiting producers in the upper Wachau.
The list: Village gasthaus in Spitz with a comfortable bar area serving Wachau wines from local producers, including some not widely available in export markets. A relaxed local-facing venue where local winegrowers are regulars.
The Roman cellar at Nikolaihof, incorporating masonry from the 1st-century Danube limes garrison, creates one of the most unusual evening tasting atmospheres in Austria. Wine is served directly beneath 2,000-year-old stonework. Access is by appointment or via group bookings.
The list: On evenings when the Roman cellar at Nikolaihof is open for visits, the estate serves wine from the current vintage in the historic stone vault that incorporates Roman-era construction from the Faviana garrison period.
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.
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.