Biodynamic Wachau estate farming named Riesling and Grüner Veltliner sites in the Spitzer Graben since 2014.
The producer
Grabenwerkstatt was founded in 2014 by Michael Linke, originally from the Pfalz, and Franz Hofbauer, a native of the Wachau. The estate sits in the Spitzer Graben, a quieter inland valley of the Wachau, and farms individual named sites by biodynamic principles. Around eleven wines are produced from Riesling and Grüner Veltliner parcels under the Wachau DAC designation. The Ried Bruck Riesling is the estate's best-known bottle: bone-dry, with lemon peel, rose petals, stone fruit, and a flinty mineral finish that develops with age.
Known for
Biodynamic single-vineyard Wachau Riesling
Notable facts
Founded in 2014 by Michael Linke (from the Pfalz) and Franz Hofbauer (native to the Wachau).
Based in the Spitzer Graben, a side valley of the Wachau in Lower Austria.
All wines carry the Wachau DAC designation and are farmed by biodynamic principles.
The estate produces approximately eleven wines from named Riesling and Grüner Veltliner sites.
The story
New Zealand to Wachau
Michael Linke and Franz Hofbauer did not meet in Austria. The two winemakers found each other while working in New Zealand, and it was there, far from both the Pfalz and the Wachau, that they developed the idea for a joint estate. When they returned to Europe, Hofbauer's knowledge of his home valley and Linke's outside perspective shaped where they settled and how they would farm: in the Spitzer Graben, by biodynamic principles, with the individual character of each named site as the working frame. Grabenwerkstatt opened in 2014.
From the atlas
Grabenwerkstatt
Michael Linke and Franz Hofbauer's Wachau estate, farming individual Riesling and Grüner Veltliner sites in the Spitzer Graben by biodynamic principles.
At A Glance
Region
Wachau, Lower Austria
Appellation
Wachau DAC
Village
Spitzer Graben
Main grapes
Riesling, Grüner Veltliner
Signature wine
Riesling Ried Bruck
Defining feature
Biodynamic site-specific winemaking by two founders with roots in both the Pfalz and the Wachau
The Producer
The Wachau is one of Austria's most exacting wine regions, and the Spitzer Graben is one of its quieter valleys. Grabenwerkstatt is based there, founded in 2014 by Michael Linke, who came from the Pfalz, and Franz Hofbauer, a native of the Wachau. Together they farm by biodynamic principles and bottle approximately eleven wines from named Riesling and Grüner Veltliner sites. The estate's Wachau DAC designation places every wine inside the appellation's rules for grape variety, site expression, and ripeness classification.
Linke arrived as an outsider to this particular valley; Hofbauer came as someone who had grown up within it. The two met working in New Zealand, where the idea for a joint estate took shape before they returned to Austria and put it into practice.
Place
The Spitzer Graben is a side valley off the main Wachau corridor, running inland from the Danube. Its vineyards sit further from the river's moderating influence than the Wachau's most-visited slopes. In this valley, diurnal temperature swings between warm afternoons and cool nights help Riesling retain acidity while reaching full ripeness. Ried Bruck and Ried Kalkofen are among the named sites the estate works here. Ried Schön provides the Grüner Veltliner parcels. Each site carries its own ground and exposure, which is precisely the distinction the estate sets out to capture in separate bottlings.
Wines
Grabenwerkstatt produces around eleven wines in total, with Riesling and Grüner Veltliner split across named single-vineyard bottlings under the Wachau DAC designation. The Wachau DAC system classifies wines by ripeness: Steinfeder for the lightest and most delicate, Federspiel for medium-weight dry wines, and Smaragd for the richest, fully ripe expressions. The estate's Rieslings from Ried Bruck and Ried Kalkofen represent two different parcels read through the same grape, while Ried Schön provides Grüner Veltliner with the peppery, mineral character the variety finds in Wachau soils.
Ried Bruck Riesling shows lemon peel, rose petals, and a bone-dry palate with focused freshness and a generous finish. Ripe stone fruits and lime peel come with fresh pepper and flinty, wet-stone minerality, and the wine carries significant ageing potential. Ried Kalkofen is a second Riesling site; the name itself, Kalkofen, points to limestone-rich ground, which typically pushes Riesling toward firmer acidity and a more austere mineral character than volcanic or gneiss-heavy parcels.
Final Word
Grabenwerkstatt distils the Spitzer Graben into a set of biodynamically farmed, site-specific bottles: Riesling and Grüner Veltliner from named Wachau DAC parcels, shaped by two founders whose combined perspective on this valley is the estate's working premise.