About Us
Elena
This almost never happened! When I was 18, during a winery internship, I met a New Zealander. We fell in love, and I followed him halfway around the world. I thought I’d spend my life making Sauvignon Blanc! Luckily, life had other plans and back home I studied agricultural economics and met Paul. Organics brought us together: I shared my passion for organic farming, he caught the spark, and the rest is history.
Paul
This all almost never happened! I grew up on the winery but my interests were completely different. I kind of escaped, studied economics, travelled. Then in Montreal, my host mom said, ‘Don't you see how cool it is to own a winery?’ I laughed… but the seed was planted. Back home, my perspective on the vineyards had changed and I finally met Elena.
People we walked with
Elena worked for five years with Alfred Grand, a pioneer in regenerative agriculture and expert in vermicomposting. Alfred transformed his farm into a research hub and founded Grand Garten, his market garden. During that time, Elena learned how small-scale, diverse farming can be productive and sustainable, and that healthy soil—and even small steps—can spark big change.
Paul worked for one year at the winery Geyerhof in Austria. Josef Maier showed him a holistic approach to organic farming and slow-wine making.
Meet the hands
We love the buzz of the harvest gang — hands and faces we’ve known for years. Each hand could tell stories of our laughter between the vines. For us, this is the best way to pick grapes. But finding people who want to work in agriculture is becoming harder every year, and we see the social problems that arise when workers from far away work under poor conditions. We don’t believe in hand-picking at any cost. When heat or timing demand it, our machine also joins the team. The harvester too plays its quiet part in bringing the fruit home. Whether by hand or machine, each harvest is guided by precision, ease and control — so the fruit arrives just when it should.
Because in the end, it’s about respect for the fruit, and for the people behind the hands who bring it in.
Slow Food Presidio
Roter Veltliner Donauterrassen
We are a cooperative of like-minded winemakers devoted to Roter Veltliner, a rare, historic variety honored by Slow Food’s Presidio as a cultural treasure. We share knowledge, exchange ideas, and work together on selecting and propagating the best clones — including research into its possible Caucasian roots, connecting the Wagram to the early origins of wine.