It is not easy to get to Wolfsberg, Austria, home of Fassbinderei Klaus Pauscha. This time we are flying San Francisco to Vienna, a 3 hour drive north. The rental rig is a Volkswagen Polo - quite quick and after Priusing around the last several years I pity the clutch. From Vienna, the direction is Graz, a southern industrial hub and then west through the moutains to Wolfsberg.

Sunday night, so dinner choices are slim. Seeking some immediate adventure, we grab 2 beers that feel bigger than their American counterparts and head out. We catch wind that there is a reliably authentic wienerschnitzel at a joint called Gasthaus Moar. Wienerschnitzel and meat board solid, Musterwort Schnapps an unexpected bonus...I think. Sleep comes quick after the long journey.

This is our second time visiting Jakob and family at their workshop, built next to a home the Pauschas have lived in for three generations. Jakob, 29 years old with an air maturity of someone twice his age, now runs the family company. He gave us a compassionate smirk upon hearing we braved the schnapps from Moar.

Jakob is a master cooper, who after passing his exams with distinction, joined his father Klaus at the family business. He knew from a young age what he was going to do with his life. When you are around him, especially at the cooperage, you feel his pride in their work. He worked with his father, Klaus, from the age of 18 until his father unexpectedly passed away when Jakob was 25. Suddenly he grew up, fast. The Klaus Pauscha cooperage today is run like it has been for generations: they work hard, they take pride in their work, and they make the best casks in the world.

We talk business for two hours and then head in to the cooperage. They have tools for barrels and then, as if a giant works there, the size for casks. He points to one, remarkable in the way an old International tractor is, used for planing the staves. It was built in the 40s and purchasd by his father just before he died. They are old tools that work well and are important to him. Today the coopers are building a 20HL oval for a cellar in Tuscany with a small entrance and a tight space to fit. Every piece of this cask will be custom made. After measuring and dialing in the old tools, they cut the staves to length, plane them with the exact curvature, cut and rivet the hoops, cut custom headboards and begin assembly. The coopers are patient, often measuring multiple times and checking their notes. You can sense the generational knowledge in every step - It almost feels impossible without it.

For the next few days we visit with their clients around Austria. In the limestone rich slopes of Sytria we see Weingut Gross and Erwin Sabathi. In Burgenland, the spiritual home of Blaufrankisch, Weingut Heinrich Gernot and Uwe Schiefer.

Around now the message really sinks in, this family is the real deal. In other wine regions we visit, the cellars have a diverse selection of coopers. At Sabathi, Gross and later in the cellars of the legendary Burgenland producers Uwe Schiefer and Weingut Heinrich Gernot, Klaus Pauscha casks are 100% of the oak used. The French are available there, as are the other Austrian producers. So why are they so committed to the small family business in Wolfsberg? This was what we wanted to understand on this trip.

Harry, the winemaker of Weingut Heinrich Gernot made it clear. “First because the quality of the oak is extraordinary, and always better than what we receive from other producers. Second, we have worked with them for generations, and plan to continue for many years. and finally because these are good people.”

The Boswell Company is proud to offer you the casks produced by the family at Fassbinderei Klaus PAUSCHA.

Available Sizes

Small Barrels: 225 L - 750 L

Oval Casks: 10 hl - 30 hl

Round Casks: 10 hl - 30 hl

Uprights: 10 hl - 30 hl