© Graz Region | studio draussen © Graz Region | studio draussen
From the FALTER EGO to the Schilcher

wine - the best of the grape

You wouldn't expect it, but the Graz Region is home to some exceptional wines. Graz even has its own city wine - the Falter Ego. The Kehlberg - overgrown for decades - was revitalised by the well-known winegrower Hannes Sabathi. Gelber Muskateller, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris now grow here. 

A special trademark of Styria is the Schilcher, a distinctive rosé wine made from the blue Wildbacher grape. The Schilcher wine route begins in Ligist, in the beautiful Lipizzaner homeland. Here we recommend a visit to a wine tavern, where you can sample the regional products and, of course, the local Schilcher, while enjoying the view of the vineyards. Another place to go for good wines can be found to the north of Graz, the Höfer pleasure centre. A country inn with vinotheque in an idyllic location with an excellent rosé sparkling wine in Weinitzen.

der Graz city wine

FALTER EGO

Graz has what not many other cities have: Vineyards! Hannes Sabathi has revitalised this 900-year-old tradition with the FALTER EGO.
Hannes Sabathi has revitalised the Kehlberg, which has been documented as a vineyard since the 12th century but has gone wild in recent decades, and replanted it with vines.
Grapes for cool, very focussed wines now ripen within the urban area above St. Martin Castle. The first vineyards also saw the return of the rare and beautiful Osterluzei butterfly, to which the new Graz city wines owe their name: FALTER EGO.

Gelber Muskateller, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris grow on steep south-facing slopes with breathtaking views of the Styrian capital. You can get to know the vineyards and the city wines on the GrazGuides vineyard tours From Castle to Wine. You can buy FALTER EGO wines in the online shop (in german only) or from the numerous partners (in german only).

the Schilcher

Reinhard P. Gruber, a well-known local writer, once wrote that a mixture of pumpkin seed oil and Schilcher wine burns in the hearts of Styrians. And as a West Styrian, he knows what he is talking about! Schilcher is a very special wine that only exists in this region of Styria. Pressed from the Blauer Wildbacher grape, the rosé to onion-coloured, fresh and fruity wine is an ideal aperitif and snack companion.
It is definitely worth following the signs with the white horse on the Schilcher Wine Road, which starts in Ligist - in the beautiful Lipizzaner region. You will be rewarded with unique wine landscapes, romantic winegrowers' houses and authentic, rustic wine taverns.  

RUSTIC WINE TAVERNS IN THE GRAZ REGION

All across the wine-growing areas of Styria, you can find cosy wine taverns, some of them traditional, some of them modern. Many of them are true gems surrounded by splendid nature. Enjoy a glass of Welschriesling or Muscatel in their homely parlours or vineyards and you’ll feel like you’ve entered culinary heaven.

Quality wine from Weinitzen

In the north of the Graz Region, the name says it all: In WINEitzen, the Höfer family from the country inn of the same name, the ‘Genusstreffpunkt Höfer’, produces its own products from various grapes on a small vineyard behind the house. In addition to jam and grape juice, this is of course mainly wine.

Head chef Manuel Höfer-Schwarze has set himself the task of consolidating the same high quality standards in wine as he has already implemented in the kitchen. After successfully training at the Silberberg viticulture school, he was able to raise the Chardonnay from the 2015 harvest to official quality wine level for the first time.

Be sure to try it: The excellent house rosé sparkling wine!