“A farm should develop its own atmosphere in which everyone feels at home: the winemaker, his family, the people who live and work there, the animals in the house, the vines in the vineyard and the earthworms beneath the vines. An atmosphere in which everyone thrives. And it is foolish to believe that if one of them suffers, the others won’t be affected.”
(Hans Diwald’s life philosophy)
We love our village of Grossriedenthal. It is the origin and the home of our wines. The surrounding countryside is our little universe in which we farm various different sites. Since 1976, organic farming has been the foundation of our activities today, with biodynamic winemaking becoming part of our philosophy in 2023. We might look back, sideways, but we always keep our sights on the future. With our trust in nature, the joy we feel when working in the vineyards and the passion for making something extraordinary out of our grapes, we are creating wines that say a lot about their origins and about us. Honest, authentic and full of life.
The concept of origin also refers to people: we have much to thank our parents for. They did the groundwork by converting our vineyards to organic farming with great idealism back in 1976 – long before organic became trendy. Today, they are considered to be among the founders of Austrian organic wine farming, and pioneers of a movement which has since become indispensable.
Our vineyards have never known anything else than the organic approach. In 2023 we became members of Respekt Biodyn and have been farming our vineyards according to the principles of biodynamics.
We take joy in seeing the diversity and bustling life beneath and all around our vines. A colourful hodgepodge of plants, insects and rare animal species have made them their habitat. Some of them, such as the bee-eater, the hoopoe and the little owlet, feature as purist illustrations on our labels. Our sheep spend the whole year in our vineyards and help us by acting as natural lawnmowers, providing life-giving compost for our soils. Everything is interconnected. After all, healthy grapes are the fruits of healthy vines and healthy soils.
We have the fortune of being able to work with outstanding sites, including the single vineyards of Goldberg and Eisenhut, which are both classified as “Erste Lagen“ according to the criteria of the ÖTW classification. Growing in the calcareous loess of the gentle hills of the Wagram area, these sites display a truly unique character which comes through in the unmistakeable, linear and long-ageing wines: nuanced, unique and true to its provenance. Elegant and light-footed. Complex and lively.
This is of course not only a style we want to bring out in our flagship grape varieties Grüner Veltliner and Riesling, but also in all our other Diwald Wines. Rare varieties such as Frühroter Veltliner and Furmint have grown their way into our hearts just as much as cool climate reds made from Zweigelt and sparkling wines have.
Personality is cultivated in the vineyards – there’s no doubt about that. In the cellar, all we can do is maintain the quality already present. We hand-pick our grapes and ferment our wines using the natural ambient yeast. We practice an honest craft, allowing ourselves and our wines the freedom to develop. Plenty of know-how and gutfeel, patience and a love of wine — that’s all we need.
Warm regards, Martin and Ulli Diwald
