The Gamlitz vineyard ridges

Gamlitz is the busiest village of the South Styrian wine road and the base most visitors use. What matters photographically is not the village but the ridges around it: Eckberg, Kranachberg, Labitschberg and Sernau, each a narrow lane running along the top of a spur with vineyards falling steeply away to left and right.

Stand a couple in the middle of a ridge lane and the rows converge behind them on both sides. It is the most reliable composition in South Styria and it works at almost any point along the road. The white Schloss Gamlitz sits in the village below and gives a closed, formal alternative.

First light is why you get up here early: the valleys between the ridges fill with mist while the tops stand clear above it, and the low sun comes across the rows from the side. The same lanes at midday are flat and hot. In October the leaves turn and the vintage brings tractors and pickers into the frame, which is worth having rather than avoiding.

In winter the vines are bare, pruned and dark, and the same ridges look completely different — graphic rather than lush, often above a full valley fog. Most Buschenschank taverns close for the winter months, so check before planning a stop; the roads themselves stay open.