Wineries
Donabaum
in Wachau, Lower Austria, Austria
At 26 years old, Johann Donabaum has taken over the reins as the cellarmaster of the relatively small 9 acre family winery in Spitz, whose total production each year is 2,100 cases (85% white, 10% red, 5% sweet)
He might seem terribly young to us here in America, but what you need to understand is that Johann has been in training for this his entire life. Training which included a stint working and learning from F X Pichler, perhaps the most famous vintner from the mighty Wachau region.
Johann's white wines, primarily Gruner Veltliner but also Riesling and Neuburger, are clearly terroir-driven. As he told us, he wants his wines to paint a picture of the place they come from. And these vines are from the steeply terraced vineyards on the lush green hills above the rolling Danube in an area called the “Spitzer Graben”, which is a narrow valley branching off the Wachau and leading to Waldviertel.
In addition to the many international awards he has been racking up, he won the Falstaff Grand Prix “Gruner Veltliner Cup” in 2002, besting out the big names in the game. The “2004 Wine Report” book (ed.Tom Stevenson/Austria profile by Philipp Blom) places Johann in the top 10 "new up-and-coming producers", calling his 2001 Spitzer Point Gruner Veltliner a “Best Bargain.”
Wines by Donabaum
