Wine icons past, present and future with Best Sommelier of Austria Stefan Klettner

By Rachel Fellows

Published 04-June-2026

Interview / Austria

The “intergenerational” wine list of Griggeler Stuba at the Burg Vital Resort in Lech, Austria, earned three Gold Stars at Star Wine List of the Year Germany-Austria-Switzerland 2026. Head Sommelier Stefan Klettner – named the Best Sommelier in Austria earlier this year – reflects on his team’s triple win and explains why he’s seeking out the wine icons of tomorrow.

Griggeler Stuba is a two-Michelin-starred restaurant within the five-star Burg Vital Resort up in the Austrian Alps. Given that its Head Sommelier recently took the title of Best Sommelier of Austria, it is perhaps no surprise that the wine selection is impressive, and yet the story of this cellar dates much further back – some 60 years, in fact.

There is a deep vinous commitment from the family which owns the hotel, resulting in a 4,000-strong wine list and a further 3,000 wines squirreled away – they’re being carefully stored until the vintages are ready for drinking, or in case the sommelier team wants a few bottles up their sleeve, ready to surprise discerning guests.

A family affair

The root of the Burg Vital Resort is a little milk bar that Fridolin and Helga Lucian opened in 1961, in their barn on the slopes of Oberlech, overlooking the town of Lech am Arlberg. That soon became a restaurant and, eventually, the fully fledged Burg Hotel. The Burg Vital Resort came in 1997, and now incorporates luxury accommodation, a 3,800 square-metre spa, four restaurants and more. It is run by the younger generations of the family – the founding couple’s third son, Thomas, is now in charge, and his own son Christoph is also learning the ropes.

Indeed, on 18 May 2026, Christoph ventured to the Hofburg Palace in Vienna to attend the awards ceremony for Star Wine List of the Year Germany-Austria-Switzerland 2026. He was joined by Food and Beverage Director Michael Bauer, and Head Sommelier Stefan Klettner.

And so it is that the hotel’s wine offering traverses all of these people, and tastes, and generations: with access to the original cellar from the sixties, influences of various family members, the guiding hand of Bauer and now the vision of Klettner, the wine list of the Burg Vital Resort is truly “intergenerational” – as described not once, but twice, by jury member Ferran Centelles during the judging process of this year’s wine list competition, at which Griggeler Stuba won Gold Stars for the Best Sparkling Wine List, Best Bordeaux Wine List and Best Spanish Wine List.

Three Gold Stars

The word “intergenerational” is a new one for Stefan, who found it a novel – but appropriate – description of Griggeler Stuba’s wine programme when we spoke to him after the awards ceremony.

“That’s actually been the first time I’ve heard that term,” he says. “But it’s phenomenal to coin it like this because our wine list has been built now for six decades. And if we look into something like the Bordeaux selection and the Spanish wine selection, this wine list has been evolving and developing over time. So [the Gold Stars are] kind of a recognition for my work, of course, but also for the work that happened over all those years. It’s basically about how you can create an exceptional wine list – and it’s putting time and effort into it over a period of longer time. The torch has been passed on over those years.”

The wines of Bordeaux and Spain (for which the hotel won two of their Gold Stars) were a particular favourite of Thomas Lucian, who started building the cellar whilst running the original Burg Hotel, “which is why we have those back to the sixties, gladly,” says Stefan. These older bottles have benefitted from staying put in a well-controlled cellar that sits at 1,700m altitude, hence the vintage depth noted by the Star Wine List of the Year judges.

“They never left the wine cellar, which is also a thing that is phenomenal up there – there is less saturation of oxygen in the atmosphere, meaning wines can age more gently and calmly; it’s mostly low light, no shifting temperatures, stable humidity.”

The “focus points” of the broader list are Austria, Burgundy and Champagne, with a foundation of “classic icons” and a “streamlined” approach to which producers and vintages are showcased at any one time. Simultaneously, the team keeps an eye on those wines that may reach a comparable ‘icon’ status in the future, buying in bottles that will be stored until their times (and moments of fame) come.

“We try to stay traditionalist in the sense that there is a reason why many producers and vineyards, for example, got established over the course of years. So there has to be a consistency of high quality. But then again, of course, we also try to stay dynamic in the sense that we also try to go with progression, and try to emphasise what are going to be classics of the future. So currently we have 4,000 references on the list, and then again there’s another 3,000 that are stored in the cellars that we have, but we haven’t put them on the list for now. So we’re of course curious about working with those wines in the future, but definitely the backbone is the classic icons.”

Sparkling wine is an important feature of the Griggeler Stuba list, with Champagne leading the way (“that simply boils down to the fact that there is not another sparkling wine in the world, currently, that brings in this emotional drive that Champagne can”) and an extensive offering at that, including around six Champagnes served by the glass at any one time.

Austria’s top sommelier

Salzburg-born Stefan has long been called towards wine, becoming interested whilst at tourism school and going on to study International Wine Business at Hochschule Geisenheim University, before undertaking internships at wineries and working in Michelin-starred restaurants. He completed a Master’s degree in Marketing and Sales Management to better understand the business of wine, and even dabbled in wine distribution during his post-graduate studies, encouraged by one of his lecturers.

Stefan currently holds the WSET Diploma and sits at the Advanced level with the Court of Master Sommeliers. Ideally, he’d love to pursue both the Master of Wine and Master Sommelier qualifications (and is on the waiting list for the latter), whilst understanding what an ambitious goal this is.

“I’ve got to be honest with myself. And that’s also something I’ve realised: that it’s hard to do a full-time job, which usually demands us to do more than 14 hours [a day], and trying to practice for the MS, and then also trying to be a person your staff can can look up to – not just doing your job and going home. That’s sufficient, of course, but it’s about actually trying to do more and leaving a bigger impact on your close environment. But yeah, I’d definitely like to focus more on education again in the future. I’m probably not going to be able to manage it, but I would like to attempt the MS as well as the MW.”

Stefan first worked at the Burg Hotel in 2021, with spells in Copenhagen and Stockholm during the off-seasons, when the hotel closes. His stints at the three-Michelin-starred Geranium and two-star Alchemist have been hugely influential, the latter especially, where he learned how to curate a list that highlights “off-the-beaten-track wines” and to consider a more “holistic approach – the setting of trying to bring in the theatrical experience next to the food, next to the audibles and the visuals, and food that comes with the element of storytelling.”

Alchemist is also where Stefan met former Wine Director Nina Jensen, a useful mentor in more ways than one: in 2026, Stefan was named Best Sommelier of Austria and will now have “the pleasure” of representing his country at the ASI Best Sommelier of the World competition, which will be held in Lisbon this October; these world championships only take place every three years, and Nina has twice placed in the top three.

“I’m definitely going to ring Nina and ask if there is going to be a possibility of doing a session together,” Stefan says. “But the most, I would say, compelling part for me was actually just realising how much time and effort she put into her preparation. Since everybody is on a very high level, it is always going to be this very, almost boring thing that just demands time and dedication and passion, basically.”

The global stage beckons

Stefan isn’t now just in contention to become the Best Sommelier of the World. His triple Gold Star wine list is about to take the world stage too, as it goes up against winners in the Best Sparkling Wine List category in other countries on the Star Wine List of the Year tour for 2025/’26.

The Star Wine List of the Year Global Final will be held in southern Sweden this June, with Griggeler Stuba im Burg Vital Resort now competing against 23 other ‘Best Sparkling Wine Lists’ from around the world in the denouement to this awards season.

With the hotel set to open in July, Stefan and his team are busy onboarding new staff and getting the list (and stock management) ready for service, which means they may not manage to join us in person to find out the results. Regardless, we will keep them posted and wish them the best of luck – for June and, of course, October.

Meet the global finalists in Star Wine List of the Year 2025/’26.