About
We, Daniel Vogelwaid and Michael Donabaum, are standing behind -von der Vogelwaide-, which does not want to call itself a winery. Chateau would be a bit too over-egged the pudding and there are enough “domaines” in the Wachau.
After an apprenticeship as a winemaker in Stuttgart, Daniel studied viticulture and enology in Geisenheim, Bordeaux and Vienna. He gained experience in wineries in France (Domaine d'Horizon, Comte Lafon, Chateau Palmer, Jean-Louis Chave) and South Africa (Fryer's Cove).
Michael grew up at the family winery and attended the viticulture school in Krems. He expanded his knowledge in wineries such as Franz Hirtzberger, von Winning and in Tokara (South Africa). His real passion, however, is interior design, which is why he also completed a design course at the Design Kolleg St.Pölten.
In May 2019, the two decided to try their hand at being independent and put up posters all over the Wachau saying "Looking for vineyards, including hard-to-reach plots and fallow land."
After a week they had the first two vineyards, although these were hardly identifiable as such under the bushes.
Schön - how it all began.
Deep asleep like Sleeping Beauty has it been, our first vineyard in the Ried Schön in Spitzer Graben. But with enormous support from Grandma Donabaum, we were able to plant the first vines only a few months later.
Today we cultivate about three hectares organically, of which about 2,3 hectares are in production. We are no fans of big machines and love to get our own hands mucky. Therefore, our steep and narrow vineyards are a perfect match for us. Our hand-worked vineyards stretch along both banks of the Danube, from the cool Spitzer Graben to the Pannonian-style Stein an der Donau. The diversity in our vineyards, soils, varieties and wines inspires us every day. We work hand in hand with nature. We receive something from nature and so it is only logical to give a return to nature, for this reason biodynamics is our goal.
