Unlimited wine and lots more…

The splendid ambience of Vienna’s Hofburg Palace was the noble and suitable setting for the VieVinum 2012. For three days, from June 2–4, 2012, the historic seat of the monarchy, located at Heldenplatz in downtown Vienna, was the perfect stage for the top-flight wine festival.

The event venue wasn’t the only thing that was noble about the festival – the more than 2500 different wines left pretty much nothing to be desired. 500 top vintners from every one of Austria’s winegrowing areas, as well as renowned wineries from Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Russia, Argentina, the United States, as well as other countries, presented their first-class wines to more than 14,500 visitors from over 30 countries (source/quote: Falstaff – http://www.falstaff.at/nc/news/newsartikel/impressionen-von-der-vievinum-2012-4442.html).

Unbelievable variety and professional presentation

The diversity of wines, personal meetings and discussions with the vintners and the general professionalism of the event made the VieVinum a sensational experience. The clearly laid-out catalog, with a comprehensive index of all exhibitors, proved to be a thoroughly useful guide – the included QR codes made pen and paper unnecessary for any note-taking, as all information could immediately be loaded onto a smartphone.

Dégustation and discussion were possible at high-caliber event activities (for details, see http://www.vievinum.at/allgemeines/rahmenprogramm/ ), in which the various lounges – from Falstaff and Wein + Co., for instance – had special wines for tasting and lots of appurtenant information.

All sorts of purveyors of exquisite schnapps, vinegar specialties, truffles, and much more rounded out the event. In terms of cuisine, attendees were regaled with all kinds of delicacies from Austria’s culinary regions in the gourmet tent in front of the Hofburg Palace – as was the case in 2010. Champagne and sparkling wine from the Schlumberger company completed the extraordinary culinary experience.

From online ticket booking to the perfect exchange of glasses and the ongoing bread and clearing service, all the way to leaving the VieVinum – everything went without a hitch.

In summary, I can say that the VieVinum was once again a superlative wine festival. For 2014, I have resolved to perhaps book a ticket for the complete festival – the enormous number of great wines and all the interesting information and supporting events cannot be managed on a single day of the exhibition. I already look forward to the next VieVinum!

Congratulations are in order to all the organizers, exhibitors and participants – to VieVinum 2012!

Details and image credit:
© www.vievinum.com