Drop-out and drop-in

My career as a winemaker is full of curves and deviations, but in the end it led me back to the place where everything began. Childhood and youth were shaped by the farmhouse of my parents, the woods surrounding it and the cattle grazing in the fields; but it was also influenced by vineyards and wines, already produced then. Nevertheless after school I took another professional road and learned to be a mechanic only to end up again as a farmer. Absolutely essential for my development as a quality winemaker were the three years between 1993 and 1996 in which I have worked at Franz Hirtzberger’s vineyard. After this stint I took a last but long deviation at the Lagerhaus in Spitz, a centre for agricultural product. There I learned what you need in the vineyards and cellar beside grapes to produce wine but also – and that is even more decisive – what you don’t need. In the meantime I restarted to work on my family´s vineyards and since 2005 I am able to dedicate all my time to our vines and terraces.