Travels: Winzerhof Freitag, Winden um See - Austria

One cannot travel through the Burgenland region of Austria without seeing vineyards and wineries. Fields and fields of grapevines as beautiful and bountiful as fields of canola and wheat in Alberta.



Our travels take us to the little town of Winden um See to Winzerhof Freitag, where we were given a tour through the families vineyard, a look at where all their wine is created and followed up with a wine tasting.



One envisions the romantic notion of a big 'ole tub full of harvested grapes just waiting for one's bare feet to press out all the sweet grape juices. Ah, think again.

That idea works well enough for a small production of grapes but when you have fields and fields of grapevines, you'll need to step it up. Welcome to the land of technology where commercial-grade stainless steel crushers, presses and vats are the norm.



But if you still are adamant that there should be some nostalgic feelings in regards to wine making, a quick walk through the Freitag's cellar, where the wine is stored before bottling, will give you that sentiment. Dark, musky and a "little bit spooky" (as my kids put it), best describes where the precious grape juices rest.


While I am not incredibly knowledgeable about the aspects wine tasting and what makes a "good" wine, I can tell you I enjoyed all that I sampled. Reds, whites, roses, ice wines and everything in between can be found at the Freitag winery. I was shocked to see large bottles containing 1.5L and 3L of wine! If you are wondering, those volumes of bottled wines are called magnums and double magnums, respectively.



While this is not my first wine tour, I particularly enjoyed the Freitag's warm and hospitable manner which has created many fond memories that I revisit now with every lift of a wine glass to my lips. Cheers!