The insolvency of the Schiefer & Domaines Kilger winery in Burgenland caused quite a stir. Uwe Schiefer spoke to Alexander Lupersböck about his new start and the difficult end to the partnership with investor Hans Kilger.
Austrian winemaker Uwe Schiefer**** is starting all over again. Following the bankruptcy of Schiefer & Domaines Kilger, he is now starting afresh with Schiefer Wein GmbH and the "schiefer.pur" brand. His winery, founded in 1994, produced some of the most sought-after wines in the small wine-growing region of Eisenberg in Burgenland. With very small harvests in the 2014 to 2016 vintages and after a number of bad business decisions, as Schiefer admits in an interview with wein.plus, the winery fell into financial crisis. In this situation, he was approached by the Munich-based tax consultant and investor Hans Kilger in 2017, who took over 50 per cent of the shares in the winery.
In total, Kilger's corporate network comprises over 40 companies with more than 500 employees and equity totalling over 100 million euros. Kilger was already active as an investor in Styrian wineries, meat breeders and catering businesses via investment companies. In 2024, the Munich Regional Court sentenced him to a penalty for attempted tax evasion. According to the judgement, he had attempted to evade over 300,000 euros in taxes in 2010. He had used an illegal tax-saving scheme with a company in Mauritius to do so. Kilger has lodged an appeal.
"I spent too much time in the car and too little time in the vineyard," says Uwe Schiefer today.
Andreas DurstAccording to Uwe Schiefer, the investor negotiated a power of attorney into the partnership agreement when he joined the company. "We personally had a clear agreement: I make wine, he takes care of sales and finances," explains Schiefer, "but he was given all rights through an additional power of attorney. That made a mockery of my role as managing director." He was not allowed to make any decisions. He was also assigned the managing director of Domaines Kilger as an authorised signatory, who, according to Schiefer, was active in 38 businesses. Without him, no decision would have been possible. The winemaker summarises the complicated relationship between the partners: "Kilger was allowed to do everything, Schiefer was allowed to do nothing." This had consequences: According to his statement, loans were taken out on the joint company that he knew nothing about. The money was presumably channelled into other Kilger investments, reports Schiefer. In addition, invoices to the Schiefer & Kilger company were often not paid.
Schiefer cancelled the agreement in mid-2023 - and was in for a surprise: "When the winery was once again mine alone, I couldn't find a tax consultant who wanted to take over the bookkeeping," reports Uwe Schiefer. "We had previously changed tax advisors four times in seven years." This irritated him, "because Mr Kilger is the owner of a large tax consultancy firm". After he was able to revoke his power of attorney, he suddenly received a demand for payment of all debts to Schiefer & Domaines Kilger: "The auditing firm KPMG turned up at my door and wanted to do a cash audit."
Several Kilger holdings in Austria, such as Steirerwein and Domäne Müller, went bankrupt before Schiefer & Domaines Kilger. Kilger himself said in an interview with the Austrian daily newspaper Die Presse in May 2025: "I have no idea where the money is. I'm missing four million euros, he's not." Schiefer was therefore the only managing director of the winery. He expressly denies this in an interview with wein.plus: "There has been no contact in the last two years. I've kept my fingers crossed, with text messages, WhatsApp, phone calls," he reports. "I travelled to the Schiefer & Domaines Kilger office in Leibnitz with my financial advisor. We were shown the door."
A Kilger investment in Germany had already failed in 2022: in 2021, he had taken over the Stromburg in Hunsrück, which housed a hotel and where celebrity chef Johann Lafer had run his Michelin-starred restaurant "Val d'Or" until 2019. After briefly using it as a steakhouse, Kilger moved in and announced a new concept. However, the doors closed again soon after. The insolvency was due to the pandemic, Kilger explained. The other companies and investments belonging to Domaines Kilger were doing well.
However, the Mangalitza pig farm "La Gioia" in Eastern Styria, in which a Kilger holding company, Stern Capital Management AG in Starnberg, had a 60 per cent investment, also went bankrupt in 2022. According to media reports, those responsible at Stern Capital Management filed for insolvency themselves following a dispute among the shareholders.
In April 2025, the holding company of Domaines Kilger also announced in a press release that it too was apparently experiencing financial problems. A bond maturing in April 2024 with a volume of 20 million euros could not be repaid and would have to be restructured. According to news from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the term has been extended by three years and the interest is only due for payment on the maturity date. The holding company Domaines Kilger GmbH & Co. KGaA holds a significant stake in Domaines Kilger GmbH & Co.
"What annoys me the most is that in my region you never heard that Schiefer and Kilger don't pay their bills - but always that Schiefer doesn't pay its bills," complains Uwe Schiefer. "Yet my family is debt-free and we also have private reserves." The winery building is financed for 20 years and there is a strict financial plan. Surpluses are repaid to the bank every month. "I myself have not received a salary in recent years and have not withdrawn any money privately," he emphasises. "Everything I've earned privately from catering and my work as a lecturer at the wine academy, I've invested in the company." Schiefer's son Paul is a shareholder in the new company with 49.8 per cent, while Raiffeisenbank Fehring Immobilien- und Beteiligungen GmbH and Karl Gerngross' Karma Consulting each hold 25.1 per cent. Gerngross is a close friend of Uwe Schiefer who, according to him, "takes care of the financial matters".
In future, Uwe Schiefer will concentrate on his approximately twelve hectares of vineyards on the Eisenberg. He has leased two thirds of them on a long-term basis. "My landlords were all behind me. They said: 'If it doesn't work this year, we'll stand by you. If things improve next year, you'll give us a few more bottles of wine. They are happy when someone does something because there have been so many closures in the region recently. In the Saybritz vineyard, one of the best sites in the world, almost a fifth of the area is currently not being cultivated." That would appeal to Uwe Schiefer. "But now I have to consolidate. And I still have a cellar full of the wines I produced for Domaines Kilger. He only ever ordered, but didn't sell anything." He has given up the vineyards in Lutzmannsburg at Mittelburgenland and in Purbach on Lake Neusiedl. "For years, I spent most of my time in the car, and that's where things got stuck. I wasn't in the vineyard enough."
Andreas Durst
As a red wine winemaker, he is having a particularly hard time at the moment. How does Schiefer see the future? "Someone who doesn't swim in the red wine sea, but makes specific wines, has an advantage. I have proven that I can do this for 30 years and have many loyal regular customers. We also have a good image thanks to our many awards and good ratings." He is also hoping to win back specialist retailers as partners who have dropped out due to Kilger's involvement. "They said: We don't want this name in our catalogue." It is also important to be price-sensitive. "In some cases, we have reached levels that are no longer affordable for many consumers. I will continue to sell my Blaufränkisch Reihburg for 65 euros." Business has gone very well in the past two years. In 2023 alone, he made a turnover of 1.6 million euros. And now he has the wines from the 2021 vintage in his cellar, which he vinified together with his son Paul. "They're the most brilliant thing I've ever made," he enthuses, as well as the subsequent vintages.
Seven people are currently permanently employed at the winery, four of whom work in the vineyards. That's quite a lot for twelve hectares. "I stroke every grape several times," says Schiefer and laughs. This meticulousness in the work has been lost with 38 hectares at five locations. He is also planning to hire an assistant for the cellar. Uwe Schiefer's optimism is slowly returning: "I want to make it clear that I will continue to work as Uwe Schiefer. My father always said. You learn from your mistakes. But it's better to learn from the mistakes of others."