PARTICIPATING CZECH WINERIES
During our tour across the Czech top wine regions, we'll visit and meet a list of great winemakers, wine cellars and wineries. Below is a list of those you can look forward to!
Vinne Sklepy Kutna Hora
Web: vinokutnahora.cz
About: Vinné sklepy Kutná Hora is a family winery restoring the once almost lost glory and tradition of viticulture and winemaking in the region of Kutná Hora region, where wines are pure, mineral and capable of graceful aging.
The company successfully takes care of 44 hectares of vineyards in the demanding method of sustainable agriculture, taking lunar phase into account, and benefiting from the use of biodynamic preparations. All to enrich both the soil and the society, preserve the environment and produce naturally balanced, terroir-driven wine. They are the one and only winery in the Czech Republic to carry the prestigious DEMETER label of biodynamic agriculture.
Their natural wines always ferment spontaneously without added yeast, then they like to work with fine lees to protect them. Wines age in French oak barrels of finest quality or in stainless steel. White wines are bottled after a gentle filtration, whereas the reds are usually bottled unfiltered.
Lahofer
Web: lahofer.cz
About: Lahofer winery is one of the largest grape growers in the Czech Republic cultivating 430 hectares of land in the wine region Znojemsko.
Lahofer produces all wines of all major Central European varieties exclusively from grapes from its own vineyards (except for a special line of French wines). The range of their production methods is also very diverse - from the current modern technology of controlled fermentation in stainless steel tanks, to ageing in concrete tanks or in traditional oak barrels from France and acacia barrels from Croatia, to a return to historic production methods such as wines born in traditional Georgian earthenware kvevri.
Lahofer winery continuously obtains awards at international competitions such as Concours Mondial Bruxelles (2020-gold), AWC Vienna (2020-gold, silver, 2019-silver, 2018-gold), Decanter (2020-silver, bronze), Galicja Vitis (2019-gold), Finger Lakes IWC (2018-double gold), San Francisco IWC, Le Mondial du Rosé and at national competitions such as Winery of the year (winner 2020, 2021), King of wine (2016,2014), Wine Salon.
Thaya
Web: vinarstvithaya.cz
About: THAYA vineyards are located in the wine region Znojemsko, a region typical for its full-flavoured and fresh wines. It is the River Dyje or Thaya, which, through its thermoregulatory influence, together with the cold winds from the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, gives the local wines their unmistakable spicy taste and fullness. Thanks to the granitic subsoil and the loess with a mixture of calcareous clays, the Veltliner, Sauvignon and Riesling are particularly outstanding.
THAYA farms about 105 hectares of own vineyards located in the immediate vicinity of the winery and in the neighbouring wine-growing villages. The vineyards adjacent to the Podyjí National Park have been known since the ancient Romans for their unique sunny location.
THAYA winery is repeated finalist in competitions such as Winery of the Year and Winemaker of the Year, THAYA wines are also regularly successful in international competitions, and with each harvest the winery moves forward.
Sonberk
Web: sonberk.cz
About: “Wines for all the Senses”.
Sonberk - the only two-time holder for the absolute winner of Winery of the Year in the Czech Republic. The iconic view of the Pálava landscape area, spectacular architecture, and characteristic wines appreciated over the world are the main features of the winery. A place where winemaking is managed according to the rules of sustainable Production. Vineyards spread over about 45 hectares of loess soil with an average yield of around 1.5 kg of grapes per vine. The grapes are harvested entirely by hand and processed as gently as possible using gravity technology. Result is 50 to 150 thousand bottles of wine.
Sonberk's most popular varieties Riesling and Pálava garner positive acclaim from both domestic and inter national evaluators; so not only are they found in several Michelin star restaurants over the world, but they also boast titles such as the Best Dry White Wine of Central and Eastern Europe and the Best Dry Aromatic White Wine in the World according to the Decanter World Wine Awards. Also, the naturally sweet straw wine is pressed by winemaker Mr. Drápal - notably the first straw wine producer in the Czech Republic. Mentions of Sonberk's wine can be found in the Financial Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Le Figaro. Sonberk wines are also on display at La Cité du Vin in Bordeaux.
Mikrosvin Mikulov
Web: mikrosvin.cz
About: All wines from Winery Mikrosvín Mikulov are made exclusively from its own raw material, which is harvested on 12 vineyard lines in the wine region Mikulovsko. The absolute top among the vineyards are the tracks Železná, Goldhamer and Purmice.
The calcium rich soil in the Mikulov region give the wines a unique character of great spiciness and density by limiting the growth of the vines and concentrating their quality. The premium grape variety here is Welschriesling, alongside Gruner Veltliner, Riesling and Chardonnay. In recent years, new local varieties such as Pálava have been successful.
Winery Mikrosvín´s philosophy of vine cultivation is based on a low load on the bushes, a gentle approach with a maximum limitation of chemical inputs. All the grape material is gently harvested at the appropriate time, the best grapes are harvested by hand. The grapes are then processed with the utmost care, production is based on the gravity approach. For the production of their wines, special approach of the people is extremely important.
Zamecke vinarstvi Bzenec
Web: zameckevinarstvi.cz
About: Castle Winery Bzenec cultivate with an emphasis on efficiency and ecology 540 hectares of vineyards 3 wine regions: Mikulovsko, Slovensko and Znojemsko.
Castle Winery Bzenec supplies quality Moravian wines to the domestic and foreign market. Emphasis is placed on varietal characteristics, technological purity and modern expression of all produced wines. It offers wines with a unique and unmistakable varietal taste and aroma, which come from grapes with guaranteed origin of the Morava wine region. For the production of original Moravian wines today, the winery uses the most modern winemaking technologies. Using controlled fermentation technology combined with a distinctive approach, it produces wines of the highest quality that have their own "soul".
Castle Winery Bzenec is an eight-time winner of the Wine Salon of the Czech Republic and our wines score points in many other international and domestic competitions.
Obelisk
Web: vinarstviobelisk.cz
About: Obelisk Winery is housed in a modern building in the middle of the vineyards in Valtice, wine region Mikulovsko. The vineyards characterized by loess-loam soils rich in calcium are treated in the most ecological way and the grapes are harvested only by hand. The wines are characterized by postmodern wine-growing, where the winemaker pays close attention to their own specific development and limits unnatural impact into the character of the wine. The wines are made using old traditional techniques with the assistance of the modern technology which helps to achieve the originality and preserves the uniqueness of the terroir. The wines are aged in stainless steel tanks as well as in wooden barrels and amphorae made from clay.
Bohemia Sekt
Web: bohemiasekt.cz
About: The first sparkling wine began to mature in our cellars in 1942. Thanks to this long tradition and the great trust we enjoy among consumers, more than half of the sparkling wine drunk in the Czech Republic today comes from our production. Bohemia Sekt won the 2022 Czech Winery of the Year in the category of large wineries and was awarded for the "incredible performance of the Bohemia Sekt Company and the constantly improving quality of its wines" by the expert jury of the sparkling wine section at the prestigious Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2022.
Fabig
Web: fabig.cz
About: “Sauvignon Blanc is my obsession, my passion”.
Winery Fabig was established in 2011. Its focus is mainly on wines intended for gastronomy, reflecting the place of origin and the uniqueness of the vineyards in Hustopeče in the Velkopopovická wine sub-region.
Cultivation and the making of wine at Fabig winery is not any magic. Roman Fabig believes in logical thinking and long-lasting quality, not any current trends. Fabig take care of the vineyards with an eco-friendly approach, creating a long-lasting sustainability.
Gurdau
Web: gurdauvinarstvi.cz
About: "We don't own the vineyard, it is the vineyard who owns us".
Gurdau winery was founded in 2012 by Zdeněk Hort in small village Kurdějov, historically one of the most important wine-growing villages in Moravia. The village, by its former German name Gurdau, is located near Hustopeče in wine sub-region Velkopavlovicko, in a deep valley surrounded by the Žďánice Hills, a location ensuring unique terroir and closed microclimate, highly sloping tracks and great exposure.
Gurdau winery currently manage 10,5 hectares of vineyards, for all their tracks are typical calcareous sandstones covered with calcareous loess. Gurdau winery is mainly focused on the noble variety Riesling, which they have planted in 6 clones originated from the Wachau, Alsace, Rheingau and the Pfalz. From this single variety they produce the basic line, wines aged in oak barrels, sparkling wines and also sweet wines. To diversify the offer, Gurdau added two more varieties – Green Veltliner and Pinot Blanc. The wines are produced using gentle methods, with respect for nature and terroir.
Spalek
Web: spalek.bio/spalek
About: Winery Špalek is a small family, organic winery, which plants 12 ha of vineyards on Kraví hora (Cow hill) close to Znojmo. In addition to traditional white, rosé and red wines, it also produces special wines such as ice wines, wines matured in oak barrels and on lees for one year (Sur lie), liquor wines (Šaler) and natural wines made from grapes crushed by feet and fermented with wild yeasts (Edelspitz). The famous red wine made in this winery is the family Cuvée Gryllus, matured for one year in small, barrique, oak barrels. Apricot Nectar and Elderberry Syrup are marketed under the Der Ilgner brand, referring to the Austrian roots of one of the co-owners.
Wine shop Silova
Web: vinosilova.cz
About: Our winery can be described by the word "small"; we cultivate a total of 10 hectares of vineyards in wine region Mikulovsko. We produced our first wine in 2012. However, the tradition of growing vines and making wine is deeply rooted in our family, Kateřina's grandfather was at the birth of the former national Moravian Wine Enterprise, where he worked as a director for many years.
The soil around the wine-growing village of Novosedly is mainly clay and sandy, while near Mikulov it is predominantly lime loess with a pebbly skeleton. In all our vineyards, the soil has a higher proportion of active lime, which, together with the significant temperature fluctuations between day and night, creates ideal conditions for planting traditional yellow and selected blue varieties.
With regard to the growing conditions of the Mikulov wine region, we mainly produce white wines. Of the total annual production of 25,000 bottles, around 90% are white, the rest are rosé and red.
The key wines of our winery are the traditional varieties of Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Grüner Veltliner, but also the now rare and little grown variety Neuburg.
Habanske Sklepy
Web: habanskesklepy.cz
About: The Habánské sklepy winery was founded in 1614 in Velké Bílovice, a traditional Moravian wine-growing village at the time of the greatest boom of winemaking in Moravia. The founders of the winery were the Habans - a group of reformist New Baptists, peaceful and progressive-minded people. They soon gained respect in Moravia as skilled craftsmen, excellent builders and especially as excellent winemakers. They founded vineyards, built cellars and introduced progressive methods of vineyard cultivation for the time. They built many wine cellars, and the largest of them today is home to the wine production company of the same name - Habánské sklepy.
What is essential from Haban time, has survived in Habánské sklepy for 400 years: the perseverance and hard work of the local winemakers, respect for the land and the vines and careful supervision of every stage of wine production. Thanks to this heritage, the Habánské sklepy produce unique wines with a unique character - wines that have a soul.
Syfany
Web: syfany.cz
About: The grapes from which we make wine come from our own vineyards located in Vrbice.
We take care of our vineyards with regard to long-term sustainability and the diversity of animal and plant species in our landscape. We are aware that we have to combine our requirements for the vineyard and at the same time keep the land full of life so that it can serve the next generations to its full potential.
Grapes from Vrbice, barrel maker from Čejkovice, wood from Ždánický les - this is Jakub Zborovský's winery and his belief in his real terroir of 20 km².
We process the grapes using the original methods used by our ancestors. The wine acquires a special taste with an emphasis on its vintage, variety and terroir. During the production of the wine, except for the necessary SO2, no other additives were used which would fundamentally affect the character of the wine.
The gentle procedures in the vineyards and in the cellar create very distinctive wines, which are presented to you in all their naturalness and originality.
Vinotrh Enoteka
Web: vinotrh.cz/enoteka
About: The Znojmo Wine Enoteca is the largest tasting room with the By the Glass® system in the Czech Republic.
In the entry section, you can now taste the first ten wines of the 2022 vintage from several Znojmo wineries. In the permanent exhibition of wines for the 2022/23 season, you will find 70 wine samples that will guide you through the profile of the Znojmo wine region. You will taste classic varieties, regional new varieties, wines produced by unconventional technologies, as well as natural, liqueur, ice or straw wines. In the thematic section are currently presented 30 wines under the title The Winemaker's Choice.
Wine in the Enoteca is served through wine machines with the By the Glass® system - a self-service system that offers a choice of three tasting quantity options at three price levels of your choice. Payment is made by card, which you purchase when you enter the Enoteca and have charged to the amount of your choice.
J.Stavek
Web: jstavek.cz
About: The Stávek family has been living and growing wine in Němčičky for five generations. Due to its undulating relief the village has become known as “the village of nine valleys.” The winery was founded by Jan Stávek's great-grandfather František Kopřiva as early as 1898.
The present owner of the winery Jan Stávek has decided to combine the family tradition and rich experience of his ancestors with expert and worldwide knowledge. He is an advocate of rosé wines as they seem to have a long maturing potential. Jan Stávek's unique approach to wine production has contributed to the success of his wines in various prestigeous wine competitions. So far the greatest success has been the title The winery of the year (2015). In 2020 Jan Stávek was appointed as a Winemaker of the Year in the Czech Republic.
The family tradition has survived in our cuvée wines. The local terroir seems to be ideal for growing red varieties and we believe we have paid tribute to this unique terroir with our fruity rosé wines. Besides that, we are also one of the few domestic producers of fortified wines.
Our winery is a member of VOC Modré hory, an association producing certified wines made from the most traditional grape varieties in this region. Following the family tradition, our winery specializes in Frankovka.
Dunajovske Kopce
Web: dunajovskekopce.cz
About: Dunajovské kopce is an open association of winemakers from the villages of Březí u Mikulova and Dolní Dunajovice, who produce wine from grapes grown around these two villages. The basic idea for the creation of the association was the desire to connect winemakers who draw on the unique terroir of the surrounding Dunajovské kopce (Dunajovice hills), the national natural landmark, and to provide visitors with a full experience and comprehensive services. The subsoil here is made up of Tertiary marine sediments, mainly calcareous claystones and sandstones, which are sometimes overlain by loess. Thanks to this unique soil, the wines from the Dunajovské Hills have a unique and unmistakable character.
Lacina
Web: vinarstvilacina.cz
About: Our family has been growing grapes and making wine ever since. Pavel Lacina Sr., who is a well-known oenologist with international degustation certificates, has left a significant mark on the winery. We now draw on his extensive knowledge in our winery and his winemaking signature is reflected in many of our medal-winning wines.
You can find us in Velké Pavlovice, in the heart of Moravian winemaking. On the picturesque slopes of Velke Pavlovice are also our vineyards, from which every Lacina bottle comes. We grow varieties which are characteristic for our region and let their typical properties stand out. You will recognize our wines by their textbook purity.
We process our wines without unnecessary chemistry - our wines are made mainly in the vineyard and their quality is based on healthy grapes. In the case of white and rosé wines, we preserve it by using vinolok. Wines bottled at their best remain unchanged for a long time.
Winery ŠKROBÁK
Web: vinoskrobak.cz
About: The story of our winemaking company is the story of one family for generations connected with a village of Čejkovice. The place where respect for the winemaking craft and its history is an essential part of everyday life. That is why we also draw on the rich traditions and experience of our ancestors, their love of wine and humility towards nature. We take care of our twelve hectares of vineyards conscientiously. We are aware of the importance of protecting the environment, and therefore we manage all vineyards organically. At the same time, we behave gently when processing grapes. Our wines are therefore honest and reflect the Čejkovice terroir. We stand up for their quality.