South Styrian Wine Route - Buschenschank

The South Styrian Wine Route

We are two days in the Loisium Wine & Spa Hotel in southern Styria invited. This is located directly on the South Styrian Wine Road in Austria. Reason enough, ours Wine trip to Austria to use it to get the best Buschenschank in the Styria to search.

We are equipped with a map showing all the taverns of the region, and our head is full of tips provided by the receptionist of the Loisium Hotel. So it pulls us out into the hills. We had already admired this from the balcony of our room. In sunshine, deep blue skies and temperatures around the 25 degrees we break up. We drive south from the Loisium Hotel.

 

 

I cannot get a remark from our adviser out of my head. When I asked how far it was to the next town and how long it took to get to know the entire South Styrian Wine Route, she said succinctly: “It is only a few kilometers to the Slovenian border. And if you get hungry for lunch, you can stop at the Polz, Tement or Dreisiebner headquarters. ”I look at the menu and think:“ We'll be there in a few minutes. And should I be hungry again? "

 

 

The South Styrian Wine Route - between Styria and Slovenia

I did not know what to expect from the next corner along the South Styrian Wine Route expected: incredible and breathtaking views of the vineyards and vineyards around us both on Slovenian and on the Austrian side.

We are surprised to see that the signs lead from one winery to the next. I quickly understand why this is the case: the villages stretch along the road. Village boundaries are not recognizable. The villages consist almost exclusively of the wineries, which are lined up along the wine route like pearls on a string, so that we can orient ourselves better if we choose one of them as our next destination.

And that's what we do. But only after we stop every few meters and, overwhelmed by the photo opportunities, continuously press the shutter button on our cameras. It easily takes us a couple of hours to cover a few kilometers, especially because we always stop at various wine taverns along the way. That's an essential part of a tour like this through the wine country.

 

 

What is a tavern?

If it sounds like I've always known what a tavern is, I have to admit that's not true. Only on this trip through the southern Styria, I found out what it is: a Buschenschank is a wine bar on a winery, which is subject to strict regulations.

In a tavern, only snacks and cold dishes are served, with products often coming directly from the winery: smoked ham, raw sausage, cold roast, lard, vegetarian spreads, mustard, horseradish, tomatoes, radishes and other seasonal vegetables. Or the winegrower exchanges wine for natural products, as does the Dreisiebner Stammhaus, for example. The trout we find here on our plate comes from a friendly family, who delivers them in exchange for the three-way wine. There is also home-baked bread, which provides the whole a wonderful underlay.

Or there is, as we tried in the Buschenschank Polz, a mini mint gugelhupf with cream and chocolate sauce. And I drink a lemon balm spray with it, although wine would of course be a better drink. But if you're working on this route, like we were, there's no other option. We save our wine consumption until the evening at the hotel, and prefer to stick to the excellent, homemade juices of the region during the day.

 

 

Between Styria and Slovenia

The South Styrian Wine Route winds its way along the crest of the hills, whose slopes drop steeply down into the valley. Many of the wineries are located on the hilltop. Others nestle close to the mountain slopes. Some lie like an eagle's nest in an exposed spot above the valley and look as if the next larger gust of wind could blow them away.

In the south, the road runs along the border with Slovenia, and if you, as we do, at one of the many branches, and on the bike path, instead of the road drives, you can even cross the border. There we follow a few kilometers of the border on the Slovenian side.

The wines are grown on the southern slopes and painstakingly cut every summer. Again and again we see wooden wind turbines on high places, whose function I am not quite clear about. So I ask Irmgard Dreisiebner, the owner of the parent company Dreisiebner, about it: "This is a Klapotetz," she says. And when I just look at her blankly, she explains: “These are wooden wheels that were set up earlier in August to use their rattling noises to drive the birds out of the vineyards that were targeting the grapes. Today they are left standing because they have become an attraction for visitors. ”

 

 

Pure enjoyment in the Buschenschanken

So we sit in front of our vintner's snack in the Buschenschank in the parent company Dreisiebner, from his Terrace Area we look out over the surrounding vineyards. A view that makes this summer's day on the South Styrian Wine Route a worthy highlight at the end of our round trip - even though we actually only covered a short distance along this route. When we arrive down in the valley in Gamlitz, we are amazed to see that it is only three kilometers to our hotel. If you want to explore the wine region in South Styria in detail, you should definitely plan more time than we did.

We visited the following Buschenschanken on the Southern Styrian Wine Route:

Winery Erich and Walter Polz
8471 playing field
Grassnitzberg 54a
Tel. +43 (0) 3453 2582

Winery Repolusk
Roland & Barbara Repolusk
8463 shine ad wine street 41
Tel. + 43 (0) 3454 313

Winery Dreisiebner parent company
8461 Sulztak on the wine route 35
Tel. +43 (0) 3453 2590

 

A stay in the LOISIUM Wine & Spa Resort Südsteiermark *  you can book at this link.

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Travel Arrangements

Parking at the airport

Here you can reserve your parking space at the airport.

Arriving by plane and / or car

Compare and book flights here* (Advertisement). The nearest airport is Graz. From there, it is best to travel by rental car or your own car to enjoy the Southern Styrian Wine Route.

Car Rentals:

Cheap car hire - book quickly and easily!

Accommodation on the Southern Styrian Wine Route

Hotels and accommodations on the South Styrian Wine Route * You can also easily book through our partner booking.com.

 

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Do you know this?

• Heuriger or wine tavern - what is it?
• Wine Wellness Hotel in Langenlois
• The Gail Valley in Carinthia
• Taste the World: Wine Regions to Discover
• Burgenland Regions on the border: How people live there

 

For more Slow Travel travel tips there's this link. Discover other wine regions in Austria here.

Source: own research on site at the invitation of the Loisium Wine & Spa Resort Südsteiermark. However, our opinion remains our own.

Text: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline
Photos: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline