Michael Malat

The Climb

Training at Vienna gave Michael Malat the technical base for a career built around precision and inheritance. The center of gravity then moved back to the family estate, where he has been winemaker and running the family business since 2008, after taking over from his father Gerald of Weingut Malat. The handover did not reset the house; it changed the tempo, with one generation taking up an established rhythm and carrying the name into its next form.

Today

At Weingut Malat, the work begins with stewardship. Michael Malat describes the vines as the foundation of the wines and frames his task as care for what will outlast the present vintage: “They are the foundations of my wines and I want to treat them in the best possible way so they are in good condition for the next generation.” That outlook keeps the focus on condition, continuity, and responsibility, with each decision measured against what comes next. The result is a practice that reads less like a personal signature than a disciplined continuation.

Signature

Michael's signature wines include Crazy Creatures, Crazy Creatures Grüner Veltliner, Brut Rosé, Brut Nature, and Höhlgraben Grüner Veltliner. The range moves between names that carry a lighter register and cuvées that signal restraint and clarity, but the common thread is useability: wines built to be opened, shared, and returned to. That is the logic tying the lineup together.

In Their Words “They are the foundations of my wines and I want to treat them in the best possible way so they are in good condition for the next generation.” “I want to make wines that people enjoy drinking, not just tasting.”

Recognition

The clearest markers here are the long tenure at Weingut Malat, the 2008 handover, and the continuity of the family estate. Michael Malat’s standing comes from that steadiness: the lineage acknowledged, the responsibility accepted, and the wines kept in the space where craft and pleasure meet.