Austria is an impossibly picturesque country, and its wines are oenological gems. The native Grüner Veltliner and Riesling are the country's dominant varieties, and national viticultural regulations are stricter here than pretty much anywhere else in the world.

The Wachau region is Austria's most renowned, and quite apart from the beauty of the Wachau landscape, the wines produced here are absolutely fabulous. Classification in the Wachau goes from Smaragd, which are rich and sweet, to Federspiel, which are moderately less ripe, to Steinfeder wines which are fresh and best drunk young.