That was the ÖTW Single Vineyard Summit 2024

Media, retailers, importers and sommeliers from around the globe came to this specialist event in the second week of September to taste and evaluate Erste Lage (Premier Cru) wines from the Österreichische Traditionsweingüter (ÖTW). They were also presented with single-vineyard wines from Styria’s STK group, Eisenberg and Leithaberg in Burgenland and Vinea Wachau, thereby covering the best single-site wines from Austria’s most important regions – before they were launched on the market.

“Semaine fixe” for international wine professionals

The Single Vineyard Summit traditionally takes place at the picturesque Grafenegg Castle west of Vienna, hence what has now become permanent fixture in many wine experts' calendars has been dubbed the ‘Grafenegg Tasting’.

The summit began in 2003 with around a dozen wine experts who were invited to a preview tasting that lasted just under a day. Twenty-one years later, the event has grown into a five-day format with over 100 seats in every half-day tasting slot. “Numerous slots were booked out weeks before the event began,” reports Michael Tischler-Zimmermann, the Managing Director of Österreichische Traditionsweingüter.

Culture and wine

It was not just the wines that impressed the guests. They were treated to an extraordinary programme on their first evening in Grafenegg, which underlined the close connection between Austrian wines and culture. The Sächsische Staatskapelle (Saxony State Orchestra) performed with Rudolf Buchbinder, the artistic director of the Grafenegg Festival on the award-winning open-air stage in the Grafenegg Castle park. Beethoven and Schumann were interpreted while the summer sky slowly faded from evening sun to dusk and finally to night.

Save the date

The ÖTW Single Vineyard Summit 2025 will be held from 8 to 12 September.