The artist in the wine cellar

He came to wine through his first jobs in the restaurant industry. Out of interest, he studied oenology, i. e. winemaking, at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna and gained his first professional experience at renowned wineries. To expand his knowledge of marketing and sales, he completed the Master's Degree Programme in International Wine Marketing at FH Burgenland. After graduating, he founded the “Kellerkünstler” (“cellar artists”) together with a friend from his BOKU days. The two emerging winemakers leased an old cellar in the Carnuntum wine-growing region in Lower Austria and now produce top wines on 3 hectares of certified organic vineyards.

The Gault&Millau magazine recently named them Discovery of the Year 2024, which is like being given the ultimate accolade for them. “I've always been interested in the positioning of wine as a product,” says Marcus Bülow. For his master’s thesis, he did research on wine labels. “Of course, this also benefited us at Kellerkünstler. I was able to acquire a lot of knowledge, and we have received much approval for our wine bottle design.” They work together with artists who can present their artwork on the wine bottles.

From his time as a student at FH Burgenland, Marcus has a good network.

He also found the course content on international wine markets fascinating.

Due to the Gault&Millau ranking, interested customers from abroad have already contacted him, Bülow says. It will be interesting to see what will happen next.