Arlberg wine challenge across resort areas

Ski the interconnected Arlberg resorts (St. Anton, Lech, Zürs, St. Christoph) while collecting wine tastings at mountain huts. A unique challenge combining alpine skiing with Austrian wine discovery across Europe's largest connected ski area.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Walk the Slope Where Skiing Was Invented in 1907 History · Free

   St. Anton is where modern alpine skiing was born. These exact runs were Hannes Schneider's classroom when he invented the Arlberg Technique at age 17.

   In 1907, a 17-year-old local named Hannes Schneider was hired by Hotel Post St. Anton to teach skiing to hotel guests and invented the Arlberg Technique — the crouch, the stem turn, the method every ski school on earth still teaches today. In 1921 he opened the world's first organised ski school, right here, then starred in 15 ski films in the 1920s and 30s, turning St. Anton into a global obsession. The Ski- und Heimatmuseum Arlberg (Dorfstrasse, St. Anton town center, 2 minutes from the Galzigbahn gondola base) is free to enter. Before you clip into your skis, walk to the bronze plaque outside Hotel Post and read it, then ride the Galzigbahn gondola and ski run No. 1 — the original teaching slope. Every run you ski today exists because of one teenager who figured out how to turn.

   Backup: If the museum is closed, information panels at the gondola station narrate Schneider's story in full. The lobby of Hotel Post holds historic photographs worth 10 minutes of your time.

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2. 2 Ski Piste 64 Into the World's Greatest Wine Cellar Wine · Price: very high

   The Hospiz-Alm in St. Christoph holds 10,000 large-format bottles spanning three centuries — including an 1858 Chateau d'Yquem. You reach it by skiing directly from piste No. 64 onto the restaurant terrace.

   In 1964, Adi Werner took over this restaurant from his father-in-law, and in the 1980s began calling Bordeaux chateaux personally, asking them to fill 12, 15 and 18-litre bottles exclusively for him. Today the Wine Dome at Arlberg Hospiz Alm (St. Christoph 18, 6580 St. Christoph am Arlberg, on ski run No. 64 at 1,800 metres) holds 7,000+ magnums plus 60,000 standard bottles. The oldest bottle is an 1858 Chateau d'Yquem. Imperials of Chateau Margaux and Cheval Blanc line the cellar walls. The rule is absolute: if you buy a bottle, you must drink it there. About 250 large bottles are opened each year. Ski off piste 64 and directly onto the terrace, or take bus 760 from St. Anton. Call ahead for Wine Dome tours at +43 5446 3625. Even without a cellar tour, order a glass of Burgundy on the snow terrace — this is the most storied wine address in the Alps.

   Backup: If the Wine Dome is fully booked, eat in the main dining room and order a Bordeaux by the glass from the standard list. You are still drinking wine that travelled from Saint-Emilion to this altitude in the middle of a ski day.

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3. 3 Find the 1994 Petrus at Austria's Wildest Apres-Ski Bar Wine · Price: moderate

   MooserWirt has 8 dance floors, 8 bars, and 2,000 people going off from 3pm. It also has a glass walk-in champagne fridge and a 1994 Chateau Petrus for 3,100 euros on the same wine list.

   Austria's most famous apres-ski bar since 1989 hides a glass-fronted walk-in Champagne Bar containing bottles from 0.75 litres to 18-litre jeroboams — including a 1994 Chateau Petrus for 3,100 euros and Armand de Brignac Brut Rose for 780 euros. MooserWirt (Unterer Mooserweg 2, 6580 St. Anton am Arlberg, on ski run No. 50) holds eight bars, eight dance floors, and a sun terrace for 2,000 people. Someone at the bar next to you is doing a Jagermeister shot while someone else opens a magnum of vintage Champagne — both skied the same mountain this morning. Arrive by 3:30pm when the mountain energy is at full pitch, walk directly to the Champagne Bar (the glass wall makes it unmissable), and ask what's currently open by the glass in larger formats. Order Kasespaetzle and watch the mountain empty out while you drink.

   Backup: MooserWirt is open daily throughout ski season — no backup needed. If you miss the apres-ski window, the restaurant serves lunch from 11am and is considerably calmer.

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4. 4 Ride the Flexenbahn to Lech's Two-Michelin-Star Wine Room Adventure · Price: high

   Rote Wand's Friends and Fools room hosts winemakers from The Four Horseman in New York alongside Austrian alpine cuisine. The chef's table restaurant next door has two Michelin stars.

   Owner Joschi Walch built one of the best wine lists in the Austrian Alps, then created Friends and Fools — a room running daily culinary classes with the chef, weekly wine-and-dine evenings, and Four Hands Dinners where guest winemakers fly in from New York, London and Vienna. The Rote Wand Gourmet Hotel (Zug 5, 6764 Lech am Arlberg, in hamlet of Zug just below Lech village) brings in winemakers from The Four Horseman (New York), Brawn (London), Claus Preisinger and Susanne Renner (Austria) for the 2025/26 season. Take the Flexenbahn cable car from St. Anton to Zurs, ski down to Lech, follow signs to Zug, and clip out at the bottom of the slope. Book Friends and Fools at www.rotewand.com — guest winemaker dinners run 150–350 euros, reservation essential for non-hotel guests.

   Backup: If Friends and Fools is fully booked, eat at the Rote Wand Stuben (Michelin Bib Gourmand) and request the wine pairing menu. Ask specifically for a Kamptal Gruner Veltliner alongside Vorarlberg mountain cheese — it is the house combination that works best at altitude.

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5. 5 Walk the Koestlicher Ring — Four Cellars, One Afternoon Adventure · Price: low · Optional

   Every December, Lech's four grandest hotels open their private wine cellars to strangers for 30 euros. Hotel Post sommelier Miroslav Kalinic personally nominates his best bottle for public evaluation.

   The Koestlicher Ring — Delicious Ring — transforms Lech into Europe's most unlikely wine destination each December during the Arlberg Weinberg festival (December 4–14 annually). Four hotels (Hotel Post Lech, Hotel Arlberg Lech, Die Krone and Der Berghof) open their private cellars and their sommeliers pour and explain. Hotel Post's sommelier Miroslav Kalinic personally nominates his best bottle for public evaluation at each edition. Hotel Arlberg Lech pours from its 15,000-bottle cellar. Buy your Koestlicher Ring tasting pass at the Lech Zuers tourist office (Omesberg 31, 8am–6pm daily during festival, 30–60 euros, no reservation needed). Start at Hotel Post for the sommelier briefing, then work the circuit: Post → Arlberg Hotel → Krone → Berghof. Each stop takes 15–20 minutes; the whole circuit under 2 hours.

   Backup: Outside December, Burghotel Oberlech runs wine events year-round from its 60,000-bottle, 4,500-label cellar. Take the Lech-Oberlech cable car (daily 7am–1am, free for hotel guests) up to car-free Oberlech and request a tasting. Ask specifically for the Burg Cuvee — a Blaufraenkisch-based wine made since 2006 by winemakers Heribert Beyer and Gerhard Lucian.

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Insider tips

• Hospiz Alm in St. Christoph has the Arlberg's best wine cellar at altitude

• Take the Flexenbahn cable car between Lech and St. Anton for the full experience

• Book a wine dinner at Burg Vital Resort in Lech for serious Austrian wine