(Manfred Klimek / Photo: Gergo Pejko / animated pic: runwayml)
Before I settle in the south-west German wine-growing region of Markgräflerland for a few weeks – a region that absolutely needs to receive more attention – I am making a stopover in the Wachau. At a cooperative that is without equal not only in Austria: Domäne Wachau, one of the most astonishing wine estates in Central Europe. Not only because some of the most precise Rieslings and Grüner Veltliners in the Danube region are now produced there, but because these wines come, of all places, from a cooperative – that is, from a model which for decades in wine-growing was almost automatically associated with mediocrity and mass production.
It is precisely this image, which also prevailed in Austria, that Domäne Wachau has radically destroyed over the past twenty years. Today, around 200 winegrowing families cultivate approximately a third of the entire Wachau. Internationally renowned terraced sites such as Achleiten, Kellerberg and Singerriedel have long belonged not only to the region’s large individual estates, but also to the Domäne. What is truly remarkable is this: the cooperative does not try to smooth out differences, but instead seeks to identify the character of the origin precisely, even from small parcels. Under the leadership of Roman Horvath and cellar master Heinz Frischengruber, this has resulted in one of Europe’s most modern quality cooperatives – an ultimate flagship operation, also of considerable value to tourism.
The wines have not merely become leaner, more precise and more modern: at the same time, Domäne has invested heavily in organic winegrowing, sustainable cultivation and modern cellar technology, which also makes exciting oenological experiments possible – and brings a young audience into the building. Above all, however, something has emerged there that cooperatives rarely manage to achieve: a clear stylistic signature – something unmistakable.
What is interesting, however, is the larger question behind this: why do Lower Austrian, as well as Burgenland and South Tyrolean, cooperatives perform so well nationally and internationally – while German cooperatives remain stuck in the cheap segment to this day?
For in South Tyrol, too, a similar cooperative phenomenon is proving itself: wineries such as Girlan, Tramin, Kurtatsch, Kaltern, Nals-Margreid and St. Michael-Eppan have long been among Italy’s most prestigious estates. Hundreds of small winegrowers work together there as well. Internationally sought-after top wines are produced there too. No one today would perceive, for example, the world-renowned Terlan cooperative as a ‘typical cooperative’.
In Germany, by contrast, many cooperatives still carry the smell of the post-war era: cloyingly sweet bulk wine, discount promotions, clinging to unappealing grape varieties and a quality philosophy that often seems geared more towards stability than individuality.
The Wachau, Kremstal and South Tyrol realised early on that small winegrowers mostly no longer stand a chance on the global market on their own. The cooperative was therefore not understood there as a safety net, but as a joint quality machine: origin, precision and brand-building suddenly took precedence over mere quantity. At the same time, both regions worked with enormous self-confidence on their international image.