Alexander Rabl's 28 best wine restaurants in Austria 2024
Freelance journalist and author Alexander Rabl is Star Wine List's ambassador in Austria. Here he leads the way to the best wine bars and wine restaurants in the country, and in the capital of Vienna. Check out the places not to miss!
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Phone: +43 664 1541102
Address: Rudolf-Biebl-Straße 3A, Salzburg
Two young chefs, who have worked with the best in Austria as well as in Germany, decided to open their own business. In a shabby inn, one can experience very innovative and contemporary cuisine, executed at a surprisingly high level. For the time being the "It-Restaurant" in Salzburg. Instead of a wine list, there are two fridges, one for white wines and the other for red. The guests get to have a look and decide for themselves (or, of course, ask the sommelier for some advice).
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Phone: +43 07282 6258
Address: Unternberg 6, Unternberg
The Mühltalhof is one of the most beautiful and best restaurants in Austria, where a young team around chef Philip Rachinger offers one of the most individual cuisines in the country in a stunning ambience. Rachinger, who has worked in Paris for some years, knows about Nordic, French and Japanese methods of cooking as well as the cuisine of his grandmother and father. The wine list has always been innovative and has undergone significant deepening and expansion in recent years. Modern and classics are all together here.
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Phone: +43 06583 8216
Address: Leogang 3, Leogang
Hans Jörg Unterrainer is an Olympic snowboarder, musician and host. Together with his sister, he runs this boutique hotel in an old inn, which dates back to the 14th century, just beside the old church. The cuisine is traditional (maybe the best Wiener Schnitzel in the world) and innovative altogether. Unterrainer is also a proven wine expert. The cellar of the beautiful Kirchenwirt attracts wine lovers from near and far to Leogang. Mighty large bottles of famous wines and champagne await you alongside discoveries from Austria and France.
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Phone: +43 07666 8007
Address: Am Anger 1, Nußdorf am Attersee
Aichinger is a sympathetic modern inn as part of a cosy boutique hotel close to the beautiful Attersee. Here you can enjoy traditional Austrian cuisine as well as more advanced creations. The restaurant is well-known for the quality of Kalbsbeuschel or Blutwurst. The cosy restaurant in this holiday region surprises with a wine list that is more devoted to the classic wine scene, including one of the greatest selections of Burgundy and Bordeaux that you can get outside of Vienna.
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Phone: +43 02717 8209
Address: Nöhagen 13, Obermeisling
Erwin Schwarz offers pure traditional Austrian cuisine. No twist, no interpretation, no deconstruction. Real Tafelspitz, Rostbraten, Waldviertler Karpfen and Schweinsbraten (only during weekends). His Waldviertel dumplings are legendary, made from his own potatoes; Erwin Schwarz is not only a connoisseur of good wines and a good chef, but also a farmer. This simple inn offers one of the most complete wine lists in Austria, with a focus on the Wachau and Kamptal. In addition, there is a small, fine range of affordable wines from Bordeaux.
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Phone: +43 02732 82937
Address: Südtiroler Platz 2, Mautern an der Donau
Thomas Dorfer is responsible for the continuing quality of this traditional family-run restaurant, which was established more than forty years ago. His mother-in-law, Lisl Wagner Bacher, is one of the best-known female chefs in the German-speaking countries, but she does not cook anymore. The restaurant is as cosy as elegant and the right place to celebrate, whatever the occasion. The passion of the host Klaus Wagner and his daughter Susanne for the wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy serves to delight the guests. It is a conservative but exciting wine list, especially for those who love to drin...
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Phone: 06468 52120
Address: Markt 46, Werfen
Karl and Rudolf Obauer's restaurant has been one of the leading establishments in Austria, if not in Europe, since early 1980. Obauer classics such as lamb curry or tripe, cockscomb and mussels, or the famous “Forellenstrudel” are still served with great success. Berthold and his mother Angelika Obauer lead the phantastic service team. The wine list holds some classic and more "conventional" wines but also a wide range of new bottles from small and exciting winemakers from all over the world.
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Phone: +43 2684 2297
Address: Hauptstraße 27-33, Schützen am Gebirge
Special Jury Prize Austria, presented by Schloss Gobelsburg 2022
Taubenkobel, founded by Walter and Eveline Eselböck, now run by Alain Weissgerber and Barbara Eselböck-Weissgerberm is without any doubt a modern restaurant legend. There is a certain feeling of being on holiday in Provence in France once you enter. The food as well as the ambience are a concentration of good taste and a sense of harmony. Twenty years ago, Taubenkobel was one of the first restaurants in Austria to offer orange and natural wines. Here you can enjoy wines from Barbara Eselböcks sister Stefanie and her husband Eduard Tscheppe (Gut Oggau) as well as the best of Burgundy and Bord...
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Phone: +43 6244 4220
Address: Markt 56, Golling an der Salzach
Grand Prix Austria 2022
Andreas Döllerer is the master of signature dishes. Creations like the baked fennel in a dough made with glacier polish from Großglockner, his Alpine Ramen, his sweetbread “Alt Wien” or the famous Schwarzbeernocken are must-haves for every visitor of this elegant alpine restaurant. Andreas Döllerer seems to have something like the pitch-perfect when it comes to taste. He is also a genius in the field of wine, dedicated to German wines, Burgundy and Piedmont. As Andreas’ father Hermann Döllerer leads one of Austria's most important wine trading companies, the wine list is outstanding. You wil...
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Phone: +43 3453 22291
Address: Hauptstraße 44, Ehrenhausen
International Grand Prix 2022
Chef de cuisine Gerhard Fuchs and Maitre/Sommelier Christian Zach, a dream duo of food and wine, stand for high-quality gastronomy, both in the bistro and in the little fine dining room, where the guests are served a six or seven-course menu. Fuchs loves classic cuisine, is more into French than Italian cooking and has developed a lighter, less rich style for his dishes. The wines on the list are also more precise, slim and nevertheless delicate. They may come from Burgundy or “Taste the live”-winemakers of South of Styria. Anyway, this is one of the best wine lists in the country.
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Phone: +43 2272 62809
Address: Tullner Straße 1, Langenlebarn
Special Jury Prize Austria 2021
Is it an inn, or is it a restaurant? Chef Josef Floh says it is an inn (in Austria they call it Wirtshaus). But this one is a very special kind of Wirtshaus. Josef Floh offers traditional Austrian cuisine, but he is very inventive when it comes to working with vegetables and other local ingredients like sweetwater fish or game. Patron and head chef Josef Floh is a proven expert in both Austrian and international wines. In his Wirtshaus there are four wine lists dedicated to different wine styles and grape varieties, for example, a separate list for Grüner Veltliner. There is hardly one of th...
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Phone: +43 1 3304594
Address: Wallensteinstraße 59, Wien
One of the most booked restaurants in town, awarded two Michelin stars. Lukas (son) and Markus (father) Mraz serve a tasteful, extremely individual cuisine with humour and self-mockery, which also quotes Austrian classics (and of course often does it much better than the original), as well as international impressions that Lukas collected during his years abroad. The wine list is a thing in itself. Here you find the finest Burgundies standing alongside natural wine from southern Styria and the Jura. You get the impression that everything is there: the love of the Mraz family was for wine righ...
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Phone: +43 1 5334260
Address: Petersplatz 8, Wien
One of the veterans of the not-so-old Champagne boom in downtown Vienna, Le Cru is an elegant bar that could easily be found in Antwerp, London or Paris. A small counter, a table with stools and a few seats, that's it. The room is characterized by a gigantic shelf with Champagne bottles. People meet here before or after eating, or instead of eating, or after shopping. The audience is a colourful mix of Habitués and newcomers from the suburbs of Vienna. The service provides competent advice and is enthusiastic about the task at hand.
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Phone: +43 650 2334544
Address: Tiefer Graben 9, Wien
This luxurious and cosy Champagne bar is the perfect stop after doing business or shopping in the centre of Vienna. Here, Champagne is the only meaning of life for the owners and the service crew. You lean back and enjoy bubbles either by the glass or – much better – bottle by bottle. The selection is for beginners (classics like Krug or Bollinger) and connoisseurs (lots of not-so-well-known smaller Champagne houses) alike. If you work up an appetite, you can choose between a small range of snacks like caviar or a buttery Croque Monsieur with truffled ham. Sometimes, what started as an after-...
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Phone: +43 01 9719141
Address: Viktorgasse 22, Weyringergasse 36, Wien
Andreas Lux came from Tirol to Vienna and worked as a sommelier with chef Alexander Mayer before Mayer closed his restaurant two years ago. In 2022 Lux, a great connoisseur of wines, opened his own place. It is kind of a casual, low-key restaurant with fancy, smart modern cuisine at moderate prices. No wonder that there are a lot of youngsters amongst the guests. The wine list is not huge, but it bursts with well-known names as well as natural winemakers from Burgundy and Austria. The courtyard is industrial chic, besides the former Milchzentrale.
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Phone: +43 1 512222910
Address: Dominikanerbastei 17, Wien
International Best Short List of the Year 2022
The younger, more casual brother of Konstantin Filippou, who is right next door. Filippou cultivates his Greek roots a little more here; you can have snacks and starters as well as a dinner with several courses, all at reasonable prices. The accompanying wines are off the beaten track and make the eyes of connoisseurs light up. Even regulars who have made themselves at home at O Boufés are always happy to be surprised by the recommendations of the sommelier. Success is mostly guaranteed. The O Boufés wine list is a compendium of undiscovered, as well as established, winemakers of the highes...
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Phone: +43 1 2868563
Address: Landstraßer Hauptstraße 17, Wien
International By the Glass List of the Year 2022
The name says it all when you know that the term Heunisch refers to a quasi-primordial grape variety that once dominated viticulture in Central Europe because of its robustness. Today Heunisch is hardly cultivated anymore, it has given way to Veltliner, Rotgipfler, Riesling, Welschriesling and other grape varieties. The Heunisch, which belongs to the owner of Pub Klemo, is a modern, casual mix of bar and restaurant. Depending on your hunger and mood, you can have small bites or multi-course menus here. The kitchen can do a lot. The wine list is less a history dictionary than a compendium of t...
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Phone: +43 1 7133168
Address: Am Heumarkt 2A, Wien
Grand Prix Austria 2022
Heinz and Birgit Reitbauer run a restaurant that has the reputation of being the best in Austria. Top ratings in the guides, and for many years the best restaurant on the 50 Best list in the German-speaking region. Reitbauer has developed an author's cuisine, which he implements with scientific meticulousness. Much of what now is mainstream in Austria started here, like citrus fruits or the love of freshwater fish instead of sea fish. Reitbauer succeeds in integrating Viennese elements into his menus again and again, without them proving to be foreign elements in this light-footed, vegetable...
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Phone: +43 1 9974446
Address: Große Neugasse 31, Wien
Best Short List of the Year Austria 2022
Run by Christine Nasr and Andreas Schwarz, this small and cosy place is a neighbourhood eatery to really be the envy of the neighbours. Everyday culinary life here consists of imaginative, mainly vegetable-based cuisine, in which meat only occurs at most once or twice and in trace elements. To cook like this, you have to be able to cook. The homemade focaccia is addictive. Wines are available to the house in cooperation with the wine dealer Weinskandal. So you will have a lot of good wine, from Chateau Yvonne to Sepp Muster.
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Phone: +43 01 5953416
Address: Mollardgasse 76, Wien
The courageous gastronomic company of Fabian Günzel, a master chef from Germany, serves an eccentric author's kitchen, as well as a richly stocked wine list. Of course, the food and wine pairings are also great. The name Aend is intended to express the connection between two things, but does not mean food and wine, but rather two often contrary ingredients. Deciding between a seemingly endless selection of Champagnes is just as difficult as it is when it comes to Bordeaux, which sommeliers have tended to ignore in recent years.
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Phone: +43 1 9444324
Address: Fuhrmannsgasse 9, Wien
Barbara and Hermann Botolen have been running this loving togetherness of Viennese tavern, with modern cuisine and a wine list with verve and consistency, for years. Sometimes the chefs change, and it's not easy to cook against this wine selection either. Hermann Botolen is considered one of the greatest wine connoisseurs in the country, and he is also an excellent taster. His special love is France, especially the wines from Burgundy. Hermann Botolen not only works with well-known names, but he also has an ingenious nose for small domains and winegrowers worth discovering.
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Phone: +43 1 518180
Address: Coburgbastei 4, Wien
International Sparkling Wine List of the Year, presented by Nyetimber 2022
The ambition of the owner of this luxurious hotel has always been to run one of the largest, most famous and most expensive wine cellars in Europe. Mission accomplished... In Silvio Nickol's restaurant, awarded two Michelin stars, you can delve into the depths of this wine cellar under the supervision of excellent sommeliers. Silvio Nickol has given his kitchen a self-confident, individual style. He always incorporates some of his favourite ingredients, such as duck liver, into his menus in an enchantingly creative way. Everything seems well thought out and is implemented intelligently. The...
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Phone: +43 1 9226679
Address: Porzellangasse 53, Wien
International Special Jury Prize 2022
Matthias Pitra and Steve Breitzke have what it takes. As hosts and patrons of their wine bar according to their own will and imagination, and on their wine list. You don't just get small bites to accompany these great wines, you get a whole menu, prepared by a fantastic chef who knows that a meal shouldn't dominate a wine, just as it shouldn't happen the other way around. The ambience is a relaxed, straightforward mix of bar and restaurant, with a bit of Nordic flair. The wine list is very individual, presumably based on the preferences of the two hosts. The demands on the winegrowers whose w...
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Phone: 01 3104407
Address: Reznicekgasse 10, Wien
International Medium-Sized List of the Year 2022
Simon Schubert has fulfilled his dream of self-employment together with his friend, the head chef Julian Lechner. If you are looking for a Viennese tavern with a historically valuable interior and modern Viennese cuisine, this is it. Schubert, who worked as a sommelier at Mraz & Sohn and Aend, is responsible for a substantial wine list. He gives free rein to his love of both Wachau and Bordeaux. As far as the guests are concerned: The Reznicek also has a large following among Austria's winegrowers and other wine-loving guests. The ideal place for tastings along the way. Simon Schubert has a...
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Phone: +43 676 83 85 86 96
Address: Lindengasse 1, Wien
Best Medium-Sized List of the Year Austria, presented by Wieninger & Hajszan Neumann 2022
The wine merchant Moritz Herzog, one of the most important figures in the Austrian wine scene, has fulfilled a dream and created a wine bar that is loved in London, Barcelona and Paris. Brutally natural, wild in its interior design, dedicated not to careful tasting but to unrestrained consumption. A tour du vin through Vienna should definitely pass by this bar. Casual, Spanish-inspired tapas are served as a base. The framework is as unpretentious as conceivable. Party time. Everything natural, but not just from Austria, goes into the glass here.
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Phone: +43 699 11091332
Address: Margaretenstraße 61, Wien
By the Glass List of the Year Austria 2022
The owner of Pub Klemo is also the owner of Heunisch and Erben. But this is one of the original spots of Viennese wine culture, even though it is not about the Viennese wines themselves (they are available at the Heurigen) but about wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux. In the small, square restaurant, you can take a seat and look at the small selection of cheeses and ham (there are also warm snacks) and the wine list, a feast for the eyes. The prices are customer-friendly, and the service is top-notch, of course. Pub Klemo is a favourite of winemakers and sommeliers, and many wine-related events...
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Phone: +43 1 8904665
Address: Himmelpfortgasse 23, Wien
Best Medium-Sized List of the Year Austria, presented by Wieninger & Hajszan Neumann 2022
Under the leadership of Paul Ivic (kitchen) and André Drechsel (service and wine), the Tian has made the vegetarian urban and chic. There is no discussion here as to whether a tasting menu of vegetables and a little more should cost the same as one with fine products from the sea, river and meadow. Ivic works with the best producers and gardeners around Vienna, and the program is naturally very seasonal. The wine list is on one hand a compendium of natural wines from the competent regions (Southern Styria, Weinviertel, Jura and more), on the other hand, a fine range of consistently well-known...
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Phone: +43 1 5122229
Address: Dominikanerbastei 17, Wien
Best Medium-Sized List of the Year Austria, presented by Wieninger & Hajszan Neumann 2022
This restaurant (awarded two Michelin stars) has become a favourite of Viennese gourmets and visitors to Vienna who are interested in culinary delights. Filippou and his well-rehearsed team in the kitchen, which the guest can look into while eating in the dark-lit, elegant restaurant, offer a cuisine that constantly presents top products in new ways. The sauces are tough, and many plates are arranged like paintings. Filippou only sees meat as a spice. The Konstantin Filippou, run by the chef of the same name and his wife Manuela, was once the first top restaurant in Vienna with a large select...
