Tad Palac: Kellergasse Bockfliess

Though I called the photo Schlosskeller, that was incorrect. It's actually a picture of a "Kellergasse" - literally a road of wine cellars - in the village of Bockfliess about 30 km outside Vienna.

Such roads exist in almost all villages where wine is grown/produced and it's where the producers traditionally stored their wine and offered it to the public. The roads are like "Wadis", paths worn down over the years by the wine-growers' carts and later tractors and trailers bringing the grapes from the vineyards. The cellars were built into the sides of the "Wadi". 

Apart from the cellars, many have simple set-ups for serving wine, called a "Heuriger". "Heuriger" means "of this year" and refers to the wine made in the year. Traditionally, this term was used for private bars run by local wine growers with limited opening hours, where they sold their own - and only their own - wine and offered simple food. In and around Vienna especially, many Heurigen have become large restaurants and major tourist attractions.

The village of Bockfliess has a small castle (Schloss Bockfliess) and a restaurant (it is not a Heuriger) that is basically part of the castle - it's called the Schlosskeller and the picturesque Kellergasse runs just behind it. We have eaten at the restaurant several times and it's a nice place from which to go for a walk through the vineyards.

The photo was taken on one of our first visits there about seven years ago. Most Kellergasse organise feasts around harvest time when all families/growers serve their most recent wines.


Tad