Good Wine Comes from the Heart

Working on my own in the vineyard, making my own decisions and then ultimately creating my own product was simply fantastic — and can't be replaced by any theory.

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They say that hands-on experience is better than book learning, and so back at the start of my studies in the international wine business I tried to put all that theory into practice. My term project involved eight rows of Riesling vines that I tended myself — simply to see what would happen. The steep vineyard wasn't in the best of condition and I spent a lot of hours working on it. But it ultimately paid off: working on my own in the vineyard, making my own decisions and then ultimately creating my own product was simply fantastic — and can't be replaced by any theory.

What was especially wonderful was working exclusively with my girlfriends to bring in the harvest — which is why we still call it "Frauenwein" (Women's Wine) amongst ourselves. Officially, though, the label bears the name "Von Herzen" (From the Heart). And it's true — my lifeblood courses through these wines. As does friendship, since the help they offered also came from the heart.

So while the harvest itself might have only taken us a couple of hours, we then spent at least that much time out in the vineyard drinking coffee, eating cake and chit-chatting. A wonderful day through and through, capped off by the indescribably satisfying feeling of driving the grapes home after an entire year's work. Even today, just the thought of it makes me proud about my very own first vintage.

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