Three men in search of something extraordinary, 12 hectares of vineyard in the depths of Burgenland's Seewinkel and the will to put visions into action. These are the elements that gave rise to Austria's most innovative viticultural project of recent years.

The three men involved begin with Johann (Hans) Schwarz, a weighty butcher from Andau who has gained national renown for the super high quality of his meat products. But above all, Schwarz sees himself as a vintner. His great passion is his 12 hectares of vines planted to Chardonnay, Gruner Veltliner and Zweigelt. For many years Schwarz tended his vines under the expert direction of Alois Kracher, one of Austria's greatest vintners and the second man in the story. In 1999 they decided to start making wines from these precious vines with their friend Manfred Krankl (Sine Qua Non) of California winemaking fame. In Schwarz' words, the concept is as follows: "Luis, Manfred and I consider my vineyards as a huge playground. Here, we want to break new ground. We want to experiment and take risks." These are wines of independent personalities, uncompromising in quality, and not fixed on regional traditions.