Matthias Knebel
Winemaker

Welcome to the story of Matthias Knebel, a second-generation German winemaker, who’s driven to make the most of his grapes in the scenic Terrassen-Mosel and make sure his wine is safely distributed to restaurants and events.

The terraced landscape surrounding Matthias’ vineyard in Terrassen-Mosel isn’t just state-of-the-art for winemaking. The scenery is also just… Pff. Beautiful. But without a car, getting from A to B on these winding roads is basically impossible.
And if you’re planning on transporting your life blood safely around the area, you need a car - and maybe a good co-driver.

"If you live in a big city, of course, you don‘t need a car. If you live in a rural area, in the beautiful nature we have here, you depend on a car. So as funny as it sounds, if you grow up in the village, mobility is essential."

Producing wine is no walk in the park vineyard. Matthias is highly dependent on Mother Nature; the quality of his wine is largely determined by the weather, the soil, and other environmental factors out of his control.

"We work with and in nature. Nature sets the pace for us."

However, Matthias isn’t just sitting back, letting nature get the best of his grapes: To ensure that he is making the best decisions for his wine, he’s using data wherever he can; he tracks the weather, the soil conditions, and other important metrics to help him understand how his grapes are likely to develop. Just like he’s capitalising on data from the OOONO community when transporting his wine.

"Making the most informed decisions is alfa omega to me - whether that’s on the vineyard or on the road."

Being a winemaker means following your passion for a living. But it’s not your regular 9-5 job. Matthias is always on and he is so in rather unpredictable circumstances. It goes without saying that working in such conditions can be stressful. For Matthias, it creates a need for more predictability elsewhere - especially when he finally gets to unwind.

Being on the road, whether that’s on his mountain bike or in his car, is Matthias’ escape from the daily stress. This is where he finally gets to unwind. And both have to be as safe and predictable as possible for him to get the most out of both:

"To me, knowing what’s coming up ahead on the road speaks in many ways to the same need as knowing how external factors affect my work. It’s about safety and preparation too. The more I know, the better decisions I can make, and the better outcome I’m likely to see. Both in my vineyard and on the road."