Wine tour - Rhine or Vienna? suggestions?

Amy,
of course I am partial, but here the link to my home area in Austria, the Wachau Valley (about 1hr driving time to Vienna)

http://www.wachau.at/donau/WN/?ln=EN

Thanks Corinna! I took a quick peak at this website which I then detoured to the Melk Abbey website. WOW! So excited! If you (or anyone) knows of any websites for wineries or wine tours..that would be much appreciated.
I wonder if I can combine a visit to Melk (and the Abbey) with a winery tour? Too much for one day? How long does the Abbey take to visit?

Dear Amy,
it would make for a lovely day-trip to visit Melk Abbey in the morning. The guided tour takes about an hour, you might want another hour to walk the grounds, and perhaps have coffee in the pavilion in the Abbey garden.
Dürnstein, where King Richard the Lionhearted was briefly imprisoned, is a lovely medieval, little town, worth a stroll, and lunch perhaps. It is also home to:
http://www.domaene-wachau.at/Start.48.0.html?&L=2

where you could tour the winery.

If you let me know if you will be traveling by train or car, I can provide you with further details and suggestions.

Well, Harry,
I suppose that is a matter of opinion. Both areas have great histories of viticulture, beautiful villages, great cultural and culinary traditions set in a lovely river-scape.
I think what speaks for the Wachau Valley is that it is so undisturbed by industry and sprawl, since the entire valley is under UNESCO cultural protection, which has allowed the region to maintain its original character and allowed it to put much love & resources into its countless historical and cultural treasures.
It is considered the cradle of history of Austria.
As to viticulture in the Wachau: it harks back to the time of the Celts, the wines are elegant and world renowned.
But I am confident that Amy will know where her heart pulls her to, with these choices she simply can't go wrong :-))

Having spent more than a week total on the middle Rhine and Mosel in the past few years (4 nts Mosel '08, 5 nts Mittelrhein '04) I have to say I was very impressed with the extensive area under cultivation there. In addition to the districts of Mosel and Mittelrhein, there are three more of Germany's wine districts in the area bounded by the French border, the Rhein, and the Mosel, as well as two more just outside. I don't think there is any area to compare with the Bernkastel-Kues area (Doktor vinyard) in the Mosel district.

By DNA fingerprinting, the Riesling grape variety was determined to originate from Croatia. It showed up about at the same time in the Wachau valley, in an ancient vinyard named 'Rietzling', in the town of Weissenkirchen, as it did along the Rhine valley and in Burgundy, brought there by the Romans.
Nothing for ungood.
(Nichts für ungut)

I have visited both the Rhine/Mosel area and Wachau area of Austira. They are BOTH wonderful and you really can't go wrong. If I could go back to just one on a trip, I would probably do Wachau. We were there last September while they were harvesting. The area between Melk and Krems was wonderful. It is also easy to visit Vienna from this area. I don't know how much time you have or how interested you are in seeing other sites, I would research both areas and see which one appeals to you most. Corinna-thanks for always speaking up and offering great imformation on your hometown area. You live in a beautiful area and should never hesitate to invite people to see it.

There is nothing wrong with being partial to the area in which one lives. People on this forum are searching for accurate information about places and the most accurate answers are usually from people who live there. So, if I am going to Italy, I want to hear from Ron who lives there, Austria, I am going to want to hear what Corinna has to say. If someone is coming to Germany, I would hope they would want to hear from those of us who live here, such as Andreas, Juliette, or me. There is nothing wrong with praising my city, nor with Corinna praising hers. This is not flag-waving, it is being happy with where one lives and wanting to tell people about it. No special agenda, just sharing of inside information. People can take it or leave it, there is no need to comment on it or label it, is there?

Corrina,

I too was intrigued by your link. We have a trip planned for Vienna in late June. Would the Melk abbey and wine tour be just as beautiful then? If so, can you let me know the transportation recommendations - we would be on trains?

Thanks!

Dear Laura,

Since you are coming from Vienna, I recommend that you take the train from Vienna to Melk (from Westbahnhof)in the morning, since Melk is on the Southern shore of the Danube, but most other sites and towns on the Northern shore. Tour the Abbey, have a stroll through the charming town of Melk, and have lunch there.
At 13:50 take the ship (MS Austria) downriver to Spitz or Dürnstein, and do a cellar tour/wine tasting there, the choices of wineries and estates are endless. Then take the local train through the vineyards to Krems, where you can stroll through the beautiful inner city, have dinner there and take the train back to Vienna from Krems to Heligenstadt or Spittelau, and the U4 or U6 subway from there.
I would highly recommend spending one night in the Wachau, if it fits into your schedule, there is so much to do and see!
http://www.brandner.at/partner/brandner/

For people traveling by car, I have different recommendations.

June in the Wachau is absolutely lovely!! So much will be in full bloom already, due to our mild micro-climate.
You will love it, I am sure :-))
Let me know if I can help with anything else.

Thank you for your nice post, Connie. I am glad you have enjoyed the Wachau. Come back often :-))
You are absolutely right: Amy cannot make a bad choice, no matter what she decides, both areas are breathtakingly beautiful.

Corinna,

This trip fits into our schedule on either a Friday or a Sunday. Which day do you think would be better?

Thank you so much for all of your help and advice!

I would definitely lean towards Friday! The shops will be open, the ship less crowded, and more wine tastings on the program.

Harry, you undermine your own advice by being argumentative and condescending.

Corinna, thanks and keep it coming. I am soaking it up and using your links. The day trip you described above looks ideal!

Almost all advice is debatable. Why is it disagreeable to pass on what you think is best? Isn't that what we are all doing?

Kettle is on ;-))

Beautiful video, Corinna. I wish I knew about that area of Osterreich in the eighties when I was spending almost one year there. Rhine and Mosel area are very beautiful, too which I can say from personal experience. I think you can get excellent wines in both areas although Mosel is more famous in the world. Also austrian wine may have some disadvantage because of huge scandal in the eighties when some austrian winemakers were adding coolant to their wines. Of course since then nothing like that happened again so I hope that this memory has already faded.

Amy & Laura, here is a little video for you.
Enjoy :-)
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=X4sD6IjgH4k

Well, alrighty Corinna. I think its been settled, we are all coming to your house. Better put the kettle on. Nice video!

Ilja,
you are very right. In the 80's there was a huge scandal involving Austrian wines: vintners got busted adding Glycol to the wine they exported, in order to sweeten it. It nearly sank the Austrian wine export and it took many years to recover.
While no vintners from the Wachau region were involved, the result was devastating for all.

But, in the end, the scandal achieved something very positive: it lead to super strict controls and oversight, and to pledges to produce only natural products, making it all the sweeter that Austrian wine is finally being recognized worldwide.
http://www.vinea-wachau.at/codex/en/codex.php