Zillertal valley wine traditions

Mayrhofen anchors the Zillertal ski area with authentic Tyrolean après-ski. The legendary Scotland Yard pub has been serving skiers since 1969, while traditional wine bars in the village center offer Austrian bottles away from the beer-fueled crowds.

What to do there

4 things to do

1. 1 Find the Pub That Used to Lock Up Drunks in Its Cellar History · Free

   The Scotland Yard Pub on Scheulingstraße is not just a good bar — it's a building with a genuinely bizarre backstory that starts in the Alaska Gold Rush and ends with a police drunk tank in the basement.

   Before 1900, Johann Kröll — nicknamed 'Schmalzer Honis' — left Mayrhofen for the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska. He came back with enough money to build the Turmvilla. From 1906–1966 it was a guesthouse. Then the Mayrhofen Police moved their HQ into the building — complete with holding cells in the basement where they stored people who'd had too much Zillertaler Bier. In 1985, Peter Krenslehner bought the building, opened a pub, and named it Scotland Yard as a nod to the cops who'd just vacated. At Scotland Yard (Scheulingstraße 372, Mayrhofen), the cellar that once held drunks to sober up now stores the beer.

   Backup: Even if the pub is closed, walk past and photograph the building exterior — the tower architecture gives the history away.

   Log Memory
2. 2 Taste the Wine Named After a Green Lizard Sunning on Roman Ruins Wine · Price: moderate

   Bar Rique on the same street as Scotland Yard is Mayrhofen's most serious wine bar — Falstaff-awarded, 100+ Austrian and Italian wines, and it's the place to understand what Tyrolean mountain restaurants actually pour when they mean business.

   When you order, ask for the 'Smaragd' — the highest classification of Grüner Veltliner from the Wachau region. In 1986, right after Austria's disastrous diethylene glycol wine scandal destroyed the country's reputation, local producers invented a new classification system to rebuild trust. They named the top tier 'Smaragd' after the emerald-green lizard that suns itself on the ancient Roman stone walls above the Danube. At Bar Rique (Scheulingstraße 390a, Mayrhofen), when you order a Knoll or Prager Smaragd Grüner Veltliner, you're tasting Austria's comeback story, named after a green lizard on a 2,000-year-old wall.

   Backup: If Bar Rique is closed (Sunday/Monday), the Hof Bar at Hotel Zillertalerhof won the 2022 Falstaff Best Wine & Cocktailbar award.

   Log Memory
3. 3 Ask Martin Fankhauser Why a Medieval Nun Prescribed This Schnapps for Fever Adventure · Price: low

   The Stiegenhaushof distillery in neighbouring Schwendau is one of the most awarded small distilleries in Austria — and the spirit it makes from masterwort herb only grows on this specific Alpine ridge. The same plant that Hildegard von Bingen prescribed for high fevers in the 12th century. And that Paracelsus, the founder of modern medicine, always carried with him.

   The Meisterwurz (masterwort) plant grows ONLY on the main Alpine ridge. In 1098, Hildegard von Bingen prescribed a schnapps made from it for high fevers. In the 16th century, Paracelsus always carried masterwort root. The plant's name means 'God's plant' and was believed to repel the devil. At Stiegenhaushof (Dorf 130, Schwendau), Martin Fankhauser has won 100+ international awards for his version. The distillery rights in Zillertal date to Empress Maria Theresia's reign (1740–1780) — the same tradition today, 280 years later. The Classic Tour takes you through a scent garden, film room, copper pot stills, ending with premium schnapps tasting.

   Backup: If Stiegenhaushof is fully booked, Erlebnisbrennerei Feldishof offers a similar experience Tuesday and Friday 13:00–21:00.

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4. 4 Taste the Zero-Waste Cheese That Smells Like the Alps Themselves Adventure · Free · Optional

   Tiroler Graukäse — Tyrolean grey cheese — is the most distinctive agricultural product in this valley. It was invented out of absolute necessity by alpine farmers who could not afford to waste a single drop of milk, and it is the one food that every local will insist you try before you leave.

   Tiroler Graukäse is made from leftover skimmed milk after butter production — peasant food, zero waste, made from what was left after the good stuff was extracted. It contains ZERO rennet, is naturally lactose-free, only 1–2% fat content but wildly high in protein. The Zillertal version is blue-moulded and cellar-matured, which makes it particularly intense — it smells alarming and tastes like the mountains. At Zillertaler Heumilch Sennerei (Sennereistr. 22, Fügen), watch production live through floor-to-ceiling glass walls as 270+ Zillertal mountain farmers deliver hay milk daily.

   Backup: Order it at any traditional Gasthof — ask for 'Graukäse mit Essig und Öl' paired with a Federspiel-class Grüner Veltliner.

   Log Memory

Insider tips

• Scotland Yard is legendary but beer-focused - seek the wine bars for grape

• The Penken gondola opens early for sunrise ski + wine breakfast

• Snowbombing festival (April) combines EDM with après-ski chaos