Valentin Latschen

The Path

Training at Styria gave Valentin Latschen a grounding in the region’s agricultural and distilling traditions, and that grounding still shapes the way the work reads: as continuity, not reinvention. Since 1984, he has been betriebsübernehmer of the family farm, taking on the responsibility that comes with a living inheritance. Since 1987, he has also served as schnapsbrenner and geschäftsführer of Pfau Brennerei GmbH, combining the hands-on demands of distilling with the oversight needed to run the house. Taken together, those years describe a maker working inside long lineage rather than short cycles. The farm, the distillery, and the family tradition sit in the same frame. The result is a practice built on repetition, attention, and close contact with what the land provides.

The Work Today

"The quality grows in the garden" is not a slogan in this context; it is a working principle. It keeps the focus on the fruit before the bottle, and on the care required before any refinement can happen. That approach also shapes how he describes the aim of the work: "I want to make something unique from the basic product that grows in my garden, to capture the essence of nature." That point of view puts the emphasis on revealing, not masking, origin. The goal is to carry forward what is already present in the orchard fruit: seasonal character, place, and the basic aromatic identity of the harvest. The method is precise and restrained, with nature as the starting point and the reference at the finish.

Signature

Valentin's signature wines include Apple Brandy, Apple Brandy In The Barrel, Apricot Brandy, Plum Brandy, and Williams Pear Brandy. The list reflects the fruit-driven center of the house: orchard fruit taken through distilling craft and presented in a set of expressions that each holds a different register of the same approach.

In Their Words “I want to make something unique from the basic product that grows in my garden, to capture the essence of nature.” “The quality grows in the garden.”