by Giles Cadman
Austria has some storied wineries that produce some very interesting wines. While they do not have the status of French wines there are some famous wines that are popular with collectors. Collectors will be watching a rare wine auction in Vienna with interest.
Wines from some of Austria’s most internationally-prominent producers, including Emmerich Knoll, F. X. Pichler, Willi Bründlmayer and the late Alois Kracher, will be among 800 lots up for sale at the historic Dorotheum auction house, owned by a company of the same name.
The auction comprises around 6,000 bottles, all from the private collection of Alexander Stauder, owner of one of Vienna’s oldest restaurants, Zum Weissen Rauchfangkehrer.
The collection is large for a relatively small restaurant.
Stauder began collecting the wines in 1997 and eventually amassed nearly 150,000 bottles, which he stored in his two wine cellars in Vienna. ‘I decided to sell the wines because Austrians tend to drink their wines very, very young,’ said Stauder. ‘This means I have a vast amount of wonderful mature wines that still have a long life ahead of them. I would never be able to sell them completely in a restaurant that seats 100 guests.’
Giles Cadman 
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