The Donatsch family has owned the «Ochsen» in Malans for over 100 years. That's five Donatsch generations of wine
connoisseurs. The family-owned business philosophy is to produce true wines of outstanding quality, typical of their
location.
The Donatsch family runs a wine-growing estate in the Bündner Herrschaft (Grisons) - one of the leading Swiss wine
regions - the wines of which belong to the best in Switzerland.
Heidi Donatsch runs the «Ochsen» wine bar and manages wine sales, while her husband Thomas concentrates solely
on the wine-growing estate. Thomas Donatsch, who is recognised as a pioneer of Swiss wines, started to raise the
quality of his wines to an international standard early in his life.
Inspired by Burgundy, he had already planted Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc in 1975, which, from a legal point of view,
was not allowed at that time. In Switzerland he was the first to press a sparkling wine according to the Champagne
method and to cultivate Cabernet Sauvignon (1983) in the region. Further, when it comes to pressing methods,
Thomas was the first in Switzerland to experiment with wooden barrels. In 1973 the late André Noblet, a fellow
winemaker from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti gave his friend, Thomas, three used «LaTâche» barrels, in which
