Born into a small wine-growing family in the 10th generation, I was with my parents and grandparents when they worked in their vineyards from when I was a little boy of three.
Even then I loved to be in and observe nature, feel the soil, smell the scent of grass and flowers, and follow the growing of vines and grapes all year round. I am deeply convinced that really good wine is made from grapes which a winegrower leads to perfect maturity. This means to me to understand every single lot as an independent individual with its own demands. Even if wine is a very natural produce, it is more of a cultivated product to me. After all, it is only through the winegrower’s influence that vines are educated to exploit their full potential.
Borne by this conviction, I already started at a young age to devote myself to viticulture and vinification. After my vocational training in Austria, I had the chance to vinify two harvests in South Africa before I totally committed myself in 2000 to convert my parents’ wine-producing business with its 4 hectares at the time into a real winery.
Year after year, it is my aim to vinify excellent wines from the best possible grape material. I see myself as a companion who simply knows when to be there to keep the direction or change the course as needed in order to eventually obtain that wine style which I already have in mind when pruning the individual vineyard for the right direction. All subsequent work is geared to achieve this aim. I love to permanently accept this never ending and exciting challenge with every vintage, following Steve Jobs’ motto: “The only way to make great work is to love what you do.”
