Vintner Families

Red overalls & diving If you see a red dot hopping around the terraces on the single-vineyard 1000-Eimer-Berg, you can bet it’s Alois Bruch. His red overalls have been his trade mark around Spitz for a long time already. We have been partners with him and his wife, Elisabeth, for almost 5 decades now. “The 1000-Eimer-Berg was practically made for Riesling,” explained Alois. When Alois is not spending time outdoors and in his vineyard, he loves to go diving. He knows almost every lake in Austria and all the world’s oceans from a fish’s perspective.

Favourite wine: Gelber Muskateller Terrassen

Vineyards: 0,95 ha at Spitz (Ried 1000-Eimer-Berg)

Family all the way. All of the Fügerls pitch in: Doris and Willi as well as their sons, Philipp and Matthias – they are always up for a joke or funny chat. They also share a love for the Wachau region and nature, which is reflected not only in words, but also by the fact that they now run their Kellerberg and Liebenberg single-vineyards organically, too.

Favourite wine: Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Ried Liebenberg

Vineyards: 1,84 ha at Dürnstein (Ried Kellerberg & Ried Liebenberg)

Superwoman, 4 children and a top Heuriger! Gudrun Kropf’s winery along with its excellent Heuriger is located directly beside the Danube cycle path on the outskirts of Weißenkirchen, and the splendid views from the terrace extend down to the blue river and over to her single-vineyards Liebenberg and Kaiserberg. The two extremely steep sites have been in Gudrun’s family for generations. “We know every millimetre up there, as the majority of the terraces have to be tended by hand,” she explained. Alongside her work in the winery, she also has four children, who keep her on her toes and are already helping out with the family business.

Favourite wine: Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Ried Kaiserberg

Vineyards: 5,2 ha at Weißenkirchen and Dürnstein

Family power in Achleiten and the Heuriger. “Sustainable cultivation, an airy canopy and a lot of hands-on work”: Karin, Sepp and Birgit Trautsamwieser know their stuff. The expertise in growing perfect grapes all around Weißenkirchen has been passed down from older to younger family members for generations. Dad Sepp is a passionate stone terrace vintner, which is definitely an advantage considering the many terraces in the Ried Achleiten vineyard in particular, and mum Karin keeps everyone supplied with tasty cuisine in the Heuriger, which is open four times a year. Birgit is involved all over and has been a vintner with heart and soul for a long time already.

Favourite wine: Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Ried Achleiten

Vineyards: 2,9 ha at Weißenkirchen (Ried Achleiten)

A life revolving around sports, the hospital and the vineyard. Marlene and Alex enthusiastically continue the decades-long tradition built by her father, who for years used to be one of our most devoted vintners. With tremendous motivation, they organically cultivate our vineyards while applying keen sensitivity and dedication in their daily work. Both are employed as hospital staff. For variety from the hospital, they work the vineyards and open their Heuriger once during the season while also engaging in sports.

Favourite wine: Grüner Veltliner handcrafted with & for Friends

Vineyards: 1,5 ha at Rossatzbach

Our neighbour. Wilfried Schmelz is our neighbour in Dürnstein and a frequent and very welcome guest in our Vinothek. He contributes to our Dürnstein village wines with his grapes from the vineyards around the town. Since entering retirement, the former tax inspector has poured all his time and energy into his vines, implementing our specifications meticulously and precisely.

Favourite wine: Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Dürnstein

Vineyards: 0,32 ha at Dürnstein

A man from Vienna in the Wachau region. Newcomer to the region Christoph Ronge left his busy life in politics behind in Vienna and is now enjoying his retirement as a novice Wachau vintner in Spitz. He performs almost all of the work in his vineyards alone and by hand. He is very pleased that organic management is a visible sign that the fauna in the vineyards is flourishing so well.

Favourite wine: Riesling Federspiel Terrassen

Vineyards: 0,42 ha at Schwallenbach

A change of career. Silke and Thomas only decided to dedicate themselves to viticulture professionally in 2009. Prior to that, they were passionate about old cars, and they still love to tinker with them in their rare moments of free time. The couple loves the work in the vineyards of Ried Kollmitz and Kollmütz (single-vineyards) and looks forward every day to the stunning views of the Danube and their colourful and lively terraces. Alongside the winery, Silke in particular also dedicates her time enthusiastically to the guests in their small bed and breakfast.

Favourite wine: Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Ried Kollmitz

Vineyards: 3,9 ha at Wösendorf (Ried Kollmitz and Ried Kollmütz)

A vineyard worked by several generations. Nina’s family repeatedly presents a pleasing picture: the children Lenny and Dennis, five and six years old, their great-grandpa Hubert and between them Nina, a full-time vintner and full-time mother, at the lofty heights of the Bruck vineyard in Spitzer Graben. While they are typical for many of our vintner families, it is not all that common for several generations to daily work side-by-side in the vineyards, with great devotion to detail and the most painstaking manual labour.

Favourite wine: Riesling Federspiel Ried Bruck

Vineyards: 1,5 ha at Spitzer Graben (Ried Bruck)

Full of energy. Herbert Kerzendorfer can’t complain of having nothing to do. He teaches, is an avid clarinet and saxophone player, runs and cycles. As if that weren’t enough, he and his wife, Sabine, also cultivate a number of terraced plots on the single-vineyards Brandstatt and Trenning in the Spitzer Graben valley almost entirely by hand. Herbert is “not at all” bothered about having so many activities and duties – he understands the work in the vineyard as “balancing out his main job” and is proud of the “crisp acidity, beautiful fruit and top qualities” of his grapes.

Favourite wine: Riesling Smaragd Terrassen

Vineyards: 1,3 ha at Mühldorf

Dry stone walls and a Heuriger. Christoph is a prime example of the Wachau’s young and highly motivated vintner generation. His favourite playgrounds are the dry stone walls supporting vineyards such as 1000-Eimer-Berg and Spitzer Graben, where sustainability and biodiversity crown his list of values. He is assisted by the whole family: his father Josef applies ancient handcraft skills in tending the dry stone walls while his mother Herta manages the Heuriger tavern, an almost cult venue, especially at the close of the winter carnival season.

Favourite wine: Riesling Federspiel Ried 1000-Eimer-Berg

Vineyards: 0,7 ha at Spitzer Graben (Ried 1000-Eimer-Berg)

Their favourite vineyard: Ried Pichlpoint. Monika associates vineyards not just with grapes and wine but with an abundance of childhood memories. Today she is directly responsibility for working our vineyards, which even her parents Gertrude and Anton before her used to cultivate for us. Monika’s goal is first and foremost to invest great energy and conviction in maintaining biodiversity as well as a pleasing landscape harbouring variety.

Favourite wine: Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Ried Pichlpoint

Vineyards: 3,5 ha at Weißenkirchen and Joching (Ried Pichlpoint, Ried Steinriegl)

Wine & apricots. The vintner family around Renate and Josef Bergkirchner in Arnsdorf has been a long-standing partner of ours for decades. And luckily, there is no sign of that changing any time soon: Martin, the youngest Bergkirchner, has also been involved in the winery for a few years now and has already made his mark. They now work organically and are 100% convinced that it was the right step for a healthy and assured future. The family’s second crop is apricots, which are available to buy fresh and in a range of delicious products.

Favourite wine: Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Terrassen

Vineyards: 4,7 ha at Arnsdorf

Organic quality for more than 30 years. The diverse fauna and splendid flora Gertrude & Josef Seidl encounter on their vineyards is the result of decades of organic cultivation that began in 1988, at a time when most of us had no idea what ecological viticulture even was. This work is even more amazing and impressive when you consider that the Biern and Offenberg vineyards are some of the steepest sites in the Spitzer Graben, where the weather is also often less than accommodating.

Favourite wine: Grüner Veltliner Steinwerk Spitzer Graben

Vineyards: 0,7 ha at Spitz

Organic & music. When Hans Martin is not playing the trombone in the Spitz Trachtenkapelle brass band, hiking or skiing, he can be found tending his vines around Spitz and Wösendorf, including some famous single-vineyards such as Pichlpoint and Kollmitz. In addition, Hans established one of our first Traminer vineyards on the Setzberg mountain in Spitz in 2007. In 2018, he decided to switch over to organic cultivation. It was a brave step that involved new challenges, but also brought with it great satisfaction. In spring, especially, the plants flourish and transform his vineyards into a blossoming and vibrant sea of flowers.

Favourite wine: Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Pichlpoint

Vineyards: 4,5 ha at Spitz & Wösendorf (Ried Pichlpoint and Ried Kollmitz)

Grapes, apples, apricots, plums and more. Unlike most Wachau vintners, the Brandls, Susanne, Karl and their daughter, Lisa, don’t have the difficult choice between apricots or wine: they have both – and apples, pears and plums to boot. The orchards are located around Rossatz and Rührsdorf, with the fruit available in stores all across Austria. And also the vines grow there in the single-vineyards Steiger and Kirnberg. They are cultivated on the basis of the motto “work with nature, not against her.”

Favourite wine: Gelber Muskateller Terrassen

Vineyards: 2,8 ha at Rossatz-Rührsdorf (Ried Kirnberg)

Multitasking! Annemarie Artner and Johannes Schreiber open their Heuriger wine tavern twice a year just a stone’s throw from the banks of the Danube in Rossatzbach. The remainder of the year, the part-time vintners, whose main jobs are as a nurse and policeman, cultivate the vines in the Kirnberg, Kreuzberg and Steiger single-vineyards for us with great attention to detail. Plus, as if all that isn’t enough and because both are passionate about the Wachau and wine, they also organise wine tastings on boats on the Danube and excursions to the region’s top attractions.

Favourite wine: Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Ried Kirnberg

Vineyards: 1,0 ha at Rossatz-Rührsdorf (Ried Kirnberg and Ried Kreuzberg)

Professional musician. Music is what sets Dominik’s tempo. A jazz-lover, he has played the trombone with Vienna’s VBW musical orchestra for years. To relax from the stress of performing professionally, he retreats to Dürnstein, to tend several small vineyards for us. “Having grown up among the vines, I feel a personal need to keep the vineyards strong and healthy. That’s also the reason why I now cultivate the vineyards based on organic methods.”

Favourite wine: Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Dürnstein

Vineyards: 0,3 ha at Dürnstein

Rustic Heuriger with family hospitality. For the Gallhofer family fruit-growing, and grapes and wine especially, play a big role. The Gallhofer family are among our most faithful and wittiest vintner families. With keen energy and enthusiasm, they tend to our vineyards while following organic methods. This makes them pioneers among our winegrowers along the Danube left bank at Rossatz and Rührsdorf. They also manage their own rustic Heuriger, where almost exclusively homemade fare is served. Topping the list of recommendations here is the smoked beef with black salsify salad and honeydew melon.

Favourite wine: Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Ried Kreuzberg

Vineyards: 7 ha at Rührsdorf and Rossatz (Ried Kirnberg, Ried Kreuzberg)

Favourite wine: Roter Traminer Reserve

In Spitzer Graben, with companion and protector Rico. Fritz is one of our most dynamic and highly motivated winegrowers, working the extremely step slopes of Spitzer Graben and the vineyards at Wösendorf almost exclusively by hand. Together with the whole family, most especially his mother Annemarie, who supports him wherever possible, he strives to achieve healthy, luscious and blossoming vineyards. His constant companion and protector in all activities is Rico, an Appenzeller mountain dog.

Favourite wine: Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Ried Kollmitz

Vineyards: 5,5 ha at Spitzer Graben and at Wösendorf (Ried Bruck, Ried Kollmitz)

Heuriger, hunting and yoga. With great experience and enthusiasm, Johannes, a passionate hunter, and his wife Michaela nurture our vineyards, ably assisted by Johannes’ uncle Ferdinand Schütz. The couple also run a Heuriger tavern in the village of Mitterarnsdorf. Their devoted helper is Corgi, a Bavarian Mountain Hound with a special talent for routing out voles. In the winter, when leisure is more plentiful, Johannes likes to take time for a relaxing yoga lesson.

Favourite wine: Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Ried Axpoint

Vineyards: 1,5 ha at Arnsdorf

It all comes down to thriving vineyards. “Vineyards that thrive, with biodiversity and vines that get just the right supply of water”: Florian is very passionate when summing up his philosophy in just a few words. It hardly comes as a surprise that together with his wife Miriam he made the move to organic cultivation several years back. One of our forerunner organic farmers, he carefully selects his own custom seed mixtures to enrich his vineyards with greenery.

Favourite wine: Riesling Federspiel Ried Loibenberg

Vineyards: 2 ha at Dürnstein and Loiben (Ried Loibenberg)