Frankly speaking. About everything.

At the beginning of April, I found myself in a recording studio for the first time. Headphones on, a large microphone in front of me, and suddenly the question: what does it actually sound like when you say out loud what you usually just think for yourself?

It was a completely new situation for me. But thanks to the hosts at “Wein für Wein”, what started as an unfamiliar experience very quickly turned into a genuine conversation. Not an interview that felt like an interview, but one that felt like a long evening spent with people who genuinely wanted to know what lies behind an organisation.

Where do I come from? And where does ÖTW come from?

We did a deep dive. Into my own path, into the origins of the ÖTW, and into the fundamental ideas that inspired a handful of winegrowers back then to build something together that today has significance far beyond Austria’s borders. What were the first questions the founders asked themselves? What drove them? And which of those ideas does ÖTW still carry today?

And where are we going?

Our outlook for the future was just as open as our look back at the past. After all, an organisation that is breaking new ground must never stop questioning itself. What does ‘origin’ mean today? How is the vineyard classification system evolving? And what role does the ÖTW play in a wine world that is changing faster than ever before? If you’d like to find out more about me, the history and the future of the ÖTW, why not have a listen for yourself?