Peter Veyder-Malberg is a former advertising art director who has spent the last two decades rebuilding the Wachau's abandoned terraced vineyards by hand. His four-hectare estate, founded in 2008, spans more than twenty parcels across the appellation, dry-farmed organically and without tractors. He operates outside the Wachau Codex classification, produces fewer than a thousand cases total, and is widely credited with proving that the Spitzer Graben — the region's coldest corner — can produce world-class wine.

Hochrain sits on the terraced slopes above Wösendorf, and it is Peter's clearest demonstration of how profoundly soil shapes grüner veltliner. Where his primary rock vineyards produce peppery, mineral wines, Hochrain's deep loess soils yield something altogether different: roasted hazelnut, quince paste, baked apple with a dusting of cinnamon. The 2024 is warmer and more generous than Peter's Spitzer Graben bottlings, with a chalky mouthfeel and persistent spice that distinguish it from the leaner veltliners in the range.