Wine notes from the Wachau
About us
We are Jürgen and Sabine Winkler and we live in Mautern an der Donau, in the middle of the Wachau. We like good wine, good food, travelling and the area we live in. wachauwines.at is our private project, where we write down what we come across along the way.
How it started
At a tasting, at an event, at a Heuriger or simply on a day out, sooner or later there is a glass in front of us that makes us pause. Usually it is not a famous name, but a wine that surprises us.
And then the actually interesting question begins: who made this? Why does it taste like this? What happened in the vineyard and in the cellar? This site grew out of those questions.
What interests us
A wine is the result of a great many decisions. Which site, which soil, when to harvest, what happens in the cellar and what deliberately does not happen. Behind all of that are people, craft, origin and often a family history.
That work is what interests us. We would like to make it visible, because you cannot tell from a bottle how much of it is in there.
How we work
We do not work through lists. We start from what we actually had in the glass.
Step 1
At events, in the village, on trips, or because someone gave us a tip. When a wine stands out, we make a note of it.
Step 2
Personally, and without a form. We say which wine caught our attention and ask whether we may write about it and about the work behind it.
Step 3
About the site, the grape variety, the vintage, the history of the estate and the decisions behind it. Invented details or traditions pieced together from the internet do not go on this site.
Step 4
Before a portrait goes online, the winery gets to read it. Anything that is wrong is corrected. Anything that should stay private stays out.
For clarity
A portrait costs nothing, because nothing is being sold here. Should that basis ever change, we will say so openly on this page before it happens.
Our focus
The well-known Wachau names do not need us. We are interested in the smaller and quieter estates: the ones where the family works the vineyard itself, where a few hundred bottles of something rare are made, or where someone does something that does not follow the obvious path.
That is why this site grows slowly. Every portrait means a conversation, and that takes time.
For winemakers
Then it means exactly what it says: we had one of your wines in the glass, it caught our attention, and we would like to write about it – about the wine, the estate and the work behind it.
No offer follows, no invoice and no contract. You give us some information, in a conversation or on the phone if you prefer, and if you have pictures we are glad to have them. You get to read the finished text first. If you do not want it published, we do not publish it, and if you want it taken down later, we take it down.
And if you simply are not interested, that is entirely fine too. We will still enjoy the wine.
Transparency
We write the texts ourselves. Jürgen works with software professionally, which is why the site is self-built rather than made by an agency. wachauwines.at is a private project alongside our jobs, not a company and not a startup.
Where we list dates from other organisers, the source is named with the event. Where we do not know something, we do not write it.
You can reach us at . The full details are in the legal notice.