Summary
Weingut Mayer am Pfarrplatz is one of the most tradition-rich wine estates in Vienna – and at the same time one of the best-known houses of Viennese Heuriger culture. Wine has been made in Heiligenstadt at the foot of the Nussberg since 1683; the home on Pfarrplatz is famous as the Beethoven House, because Ludwig van Beethoven lived here in 1817. Since 2007 the estate has belonged to the entrepreneur Hans Schmid, who led it back to the top of Austrian winegrowing within a few years. On around 80 hectares the estate produces above all Wiener Gemischter Satz DAC, Riesling and Grüner Veltliner from first-growth sites such as Ried Preussen on the Nussberg – wines that are now exported to more than two dozen countries.
History
Winegrowing on Pfarrplatz in Heiligenstadt has been documented since 1683 – so the house looks back on more than 340 years of unbroken wine tradition. For generations it was a classic Viennese family business with vineyards on the Nussberg and a Heuriger where the estate's own wine was served.
The house gained its most famous resident in 1817: Ludwig van Beethoven moved into the suburban house at Pfarrplatz 2, which is a listed building today. According to tradition he worked on his 9th Symphony here – ever since, the building has borne the name Beethoven House and is one of the most-visited addresses in Heiligenstadt.
In the 20th century Franz Mayer shaped the business. He is regarded as the 'doyen of Viennese winegrowing' and as a pioneer of modern viticulture in the capital. In 2007 the Viennese entrepreneur Hans Schmid took over the estate and a year later brought the young winemaker Gerhard J. Lobner from the Weinviertel into the house. From the outset Lobner focused on uncompromising quality and origin, and he ran the estate – as well as Weingut Rotes Haus, which also belongs to Schmid – for almost two decades. On 1 August 2025 he handed over the reins to Thomas Podsednik, who had previously run Vienna's Weingut Cobenzl for 37 years.
Location & Terroir
Vienna is the only city of over a million inhabitants in the world with significant winegrowing inside its city limits – and Heiligenstadt in the 19th district is one of its heartlands. The vineyards of Mayer am Pfarrplatz lie above all on Vienna's Nussberg, the city's most famous vineyard hill, as well as in Ried Alsegg and around Grinzing.
Geologically the sites are shaped by flysch and marl soils with shell limestone – sediments that formed around three million years ago. The estate farms more than 100 different micro-sites with sometimes markedly different soil compositions, which gives the wines their complexity. Climatically, the warm, dry air of the Pannonian plain meets the cooling influences of the Vienna Woods and the Danube. This interplay delivers ripe fruit together with fresh acidity – the typical tension of Viennese white wines.
Style & Philosophy
Mayer am Pfarrplatz stands for origin-driven, dry white wines that clearly reflect the Viennese sites. The style is precise and cool-fruited, with depth and minerality from the limestone marl, never overloaded. The work is sustainable: the estate is certified under 'Nachhaltig Austria' and Green Care Austria.
As a member of the Austrian Traditionsweingüter (ÖTW) the house relies on the classification of its Rieden (single vineyards): the best wines carry the designation 1ÖTW for first-growth sites. Mayer am Pfarrplatz is also part of WienWein, the association of six leading Viennese estates that brought Wiener Gemischter Satz back into the spotlight.
Wiener Gemischter Satz
The heart of the range is Wiener Gemischter Satz DAC. Unlike a cuvée it is not created in the cellar but in the vineyard: several grape varieties – here mainly Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, Rotgipfler and Zierfandler – grow together, are harvested together and fermented together. The result is a wine that reflects the site rather than the variety. Since 2013 Wiener Gemischter Satz has been a protected designation of origin as a DAC – and Mayer am Pfarrplatz is one of the estates that have raised it to a new level in single-vineyard quality.
Notable Sites & Wines
The top wines come from the classified Rieden on the Nussberg and in Grinzing:
- Ried Preussen (Nussberg, 1ÖTW) – top site for Wiener Gemischter Satz and Riesling; the Gemischter Satz Ried Preussen is regarded as a Viennese classic
- Ried Rosengartel (Nussberg, 1ÖTW) – Riesling of great depth
- Ried Langteufel (Nussberg) – another top site on the Nussberg
- Ried Schenkenberg (Grinzing, 1ÖTW) – Grüner Veltliner
- Ried Alsegg – historic core of the estate
- Riesling Nussberg Weisser Marmor – Riesling from the limestone-rich Nussberg soil, one of the house's highest-rated wines
The range is rounded off by the classic Wiener Gemischter Satz DAC as an entry point plus varietal Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. The estate also runs the Heuriger on Pfarrplatz, where the wines are served directly.
Awards
In the wine guide of Gault&Millau Austria Mayer am Pfarrplatz is listed with four grapes, the guide's gold rating. Among the most recently highest-rated wines are the Riesling Nussberg Weisser Marmor 2024 (94 points), the Wiener Gemischter Satz DAC Ried Preussen-Nussberg 1ÖTW 2023 and the Riesling Ried Rosengartel-Nussberg 1ÖTW 2023 (92 points each) as well as the Grüner Veltliner Ried Schenkenberg-Grinzing 1ÖTW 2023 (91 points). At Falstaff, too, the estate counts among the established Viennese addresses. The fact that the wines are now exported to around 26 countries – including the USA, Japan and the Benelux countries – shows how far the reputation of the Beethoven House has come to reach.
