Bernd Pulker is a trained waiter. During his career in top Austrian restaurants such as Landhaus Bacher, Steirereck, Trofana Royal and Hospiz Alm, he also discovered his great love of wine, which he was probably born with as a native of Wachau. In recent years, he has also worked in winter as a wine buyer for the Raffl family and their two hotels in St. Anton am Arlberg, which have wine lists with around 1200 items. In 2002, Bernd Pulker acquired a wine tavern with two small vineyards in Rührsdorf and opened its doors during the summer months from 2003. The wine tavern quickly became a popular meeting place. The outspoken wine geek bombarded winemakers with questions about winemaking at every opportunity and bought a few rows in top locations in the Wachau every year, including 0.17 hectares on the Loibenberg and an option to buy on the Spitzer Setzberg, more precisely the centrepiece, which he has leased since 2015. He cultivates these 0.37 hectares with Johann Donabaum, with whom he also vinifies his Riesling and Burgundy varietal cuvée. In 2016, he had a very modest harvest due to frost. After what was, by Pulker's standards, a large 2017 harvest of 1750 kilograms of Riesling grapes, the 2018 harvest was 1400 kilograms. Since this harvest, he has been using one third ceramic eggs, the rest is matured in steel tanks. The vineyard on the Setzberg also consists of three rows of Chardonnay and two rows of Veltliner; because the quantity is very small, he vinifies a Burgundy varietal cuvée from them. Naturally, everything is done by hand on the steep terraces. For his three vineyards, Bernd Pulker has found three cellar masters to support him with his wines: In addition to Johann Donabaum at Setzberg, Heinz Sigl is responsible for Loibenberg and Wolfgang Supperer for Rossatz.
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