Moravia Makes Wine : Recap IV
Over the past few weeks, I have been inundated with kindness, gratitude, and appreciation for the attention that I have brought to Moravian wine.
I started Moravia Makes Wine to offer a platform for the winemakers, to unite the English speaking community with the Moravian wine industry that I have come to respect and admire. I had no idea as to the broad extent and interest it would have over the past sixteen live sessions, and for that, I am utterly grateful.
As I’ve mentioned during my interviews and in past blog posts, South Moravia’s global wine wave is gaining momentum, gathering speed and power as the years progress. I am thankful to be in the midst of it all, riding this wave, and I am inspired by those around me who are pushing past the traditional boundaries that have historically confined them.
To those who spend hours tending to their vines whether rain or shine, to the workers who spend their weekends topping off barrels in their cellars, and to those wine professionals who have shared their stories with me and the world, thank you.
Despite the social restrictions and challenges of the past few weeks, I hope that I have helped you all to bridge more connections with the English speaking wine lovers in Brno and around the world, as your wines rightfully deserve to be celebrated. Each interview has bestowed upon me knowledge, appreciation, and further curiosity to learn about South Moravia, and I am proud to call Brno, and South Moravia, home.
VICAN Rodinné Vinařství
Vican Winery is a mid-size family winery located in the tiny village of Mušlov in Mikulov, established in 2015 by filmmaker Tomaš Vican and his wife Martina.
What this winery makes up for in its youth, is found in its complex, developed character of their wines.
Currently on their fifth vintage, Vican Winery is already on the fast track to success, and has rapidly garnered nationwide attention both from the public and wine professionals, having recently been awarded the 2019 Championship title for Winery of the Year by Král Vín.
This prestigious accolade is awarded to wineries who not only produce superior wines, but also maintain sustainable winery practices, active community involvement, and innovative tourism initiatives.
Vican wines display an harmonious balance and finesse, while illustrating a forward thinking approach to sustainable winemaking. Their goal and motivation is to craft terroir specific wines from their sprawling 35 hectares, using hand harvesting and minimal intervention practices in both the vineyards and the cellar. The winery offers a wine for every palate, from mineral driven white wines, to semi-sweet white and roses, to delicate, dry reds, all balanced by refreshing acidity. They have even launched themselves into the production of qvevri wines, an ancient winemaking technique that is currently undergoing a revival.
Striking a balance between tradition and modernity, Vican Winery is deftly able to highlight the experimental, dynamic attitude and innovative forward thinking that has taken Moravia by storm. With meticulous attention to detail, Vican wines express a broad range of flavors and styles that are unique to Mikulov’s macroclimate.
In addition to hosting guided wine tastings both in Czech and in English, Vican Winery offers team building activities during the harvest season, including an on-site farm with llamas, and a cheese-making production facility, where tourists and locals alike can enjoy an afternoon producing their own cows and sheeps milk cheeses. I can think of no better way to enjoy a weekend than sipping delicious wines on their patio, while chatting with the winery’s owner Tomaš, overlooking their stunning 35 hectares of vines.
If you can’t make it to Mušlov, pick up a bottle at Vinotéka Vinná Galerie in Brno’s city center, adjacent to Lužánky Park, and plan a picnic! At their wine bar, you can chat with Tomaš’s wife Martina, and choose from an assortment of their wines and cheeses. They will even let you borrow a few glasses with a small deposit, to enjoy their wines al fresco in the park this summer.
Interested in Ordering? Head over to Vican’s E-Shop or purchase any of their wines at Vinná Galerie in Brno.
What I Tasted
Vinařství Vican Ryzlink Vlašský 2018 Ořechová Hora Suché - Vinařství Vican’s Welschriesling is everything I love about this Central European grape: balanced stone and citrus fruit, minerality, and spice. A pale lemon color greets your eye, while signature aromas of lemon, yellow pear, nutmeg, and white pepper abound from the glass. The wine has under 4 grams of residual sugar, yet easily maintains a plump, fruity expression of Vlašák, accented by primary flavors of yellow grapefruit, peach, and apricot. A refreshing acidity balances the fruit driven palate, offering a long finish and an easy pairing to mild cow cheeses, or a grilled chicken souvlaki.
Vinařství Vican Frankovka Rosé 2019 - Pod Mušlovem Polosuché- The intense, salmon color of this rosé is deep yet inviting, offering a vibrant, thirst quenching option that was made for a day on the beach. A longer maceration time on the skins and partial malolactic fermentation, allow this rosé to exhibit creamy aromas of ripe strawberries, raspberries, and red apple. A flavorful, ample palate of red plum and red currant is backed by striking acidity complemented by a slightly off-dry finish. All this wine needs is a salty sausage and cheese strudel to accent its juicy, red fruited range of flavors.
Vinařství Vican Chardonnay 2018 - Výběr z Hroznů Pod Mušlovem Polosladké - Typically in the wine world, Chardonnay is a medium bodied, dry white wine, with ancestral roots tracing back to Burgundy. Yet here, in South Moravia, Chardonnay is sometimes produced in a semi-sweet style, showcasing pronounced tropical fruit aromas of pineapple and guava, complemented by honey and lemon blossom. Although this wine does contain 36 grams/Liter of residual sugar, the sweetness is offset by a refreshing acidity and viscous texture. This wine can easily be a match to spicy Korean bbq or pad Thai.
Vinařství Vican Tramín Červený Kvevri Pod Mušlovem 2018 Suche- Qvevris (Kvevris) have made their way here to South Moravia, and Vinařství Vican boasts over 20, ranging in size from 200 liters- 1000 liters. Qvevris are clay earthenware fermentation vessels that originated in Georgia over 8,000 years ago. For thousands of years, these qvevri served as fermentation, maturation, and storage vessels for both red and white grape varieties.
Still in use today, and quickly gaining traction in the natural wine movement. Qvevri wine making differs from classic winemaking, in that the qvevri, or clay amphorae, allows for an incredibly slow fermentation, incorporating skins, seeds, and stems into the process. Oftentimes exceeding a fermentation time of 6 months or even one year, these wines are defined by their complex textures, bitter tannins, and chewy structure.
As was done 8,000 years ago, the qvevri at Vinařství Vican are filled upon harvest, and subsequently buried underground, in order to maintain a cool, constant temperature for a steady, slow fermentation. When the wines are finished fermenting, the juice is racked off the entirety of the skins, seeds, and stems, then transferred to an inert vessel to allow the settling process to continue, uninterrupted. As in the case of Vinařství Vican, the wines are bottled without any additional sulfur or fining, and offer the consumer a wildly unique alternative to the average white wine.
Vinařství Vican’s Qvevri Tramín Červený, or Gewürztraminer, offers an adventurous take on a classic grape variety. The dominant aromas of Gewürztraminer, such as lychee, rose, and apricot, are still present, yet are enhanced by a nutty, slightly bitter texture on the palate. Although qvevri wines can certainly stray from the norm, Vinařství Vican toes this line, as the wine gracefully maintains its fruit driven integrity and classic Gewürztraminer profile, while only amplified by a broader, chewier texture on the palate.
Group Chat with Neznámí Vinaři, Vinařství Filiberk,
and Vinařství Zbyněk Osička
This was my first time interviewing multiple groups on one call, and I was so glad to have the participation of Neznámí Vinaři, Vinařství Filiberk, and Vinařství Zbyněk Osička.
These young, ambitious groups work in a collaborative effort to promote and boost each other's portfolios, often hosting joint tastings, and cross selling each other's products.
It is this shared spirit of teamwork and energy that I find so admirable in South Moravia. And it inspires wine lovers like me to gain a better appreciation of the unbound, endless energy of young winemakers in South Moravia.
Neznámí Vinaři
Neznámí Vinaři was created with the purpose of promoting high quality, small family wineries in the Prague market. The project was the initiative of Petr Rubáš and his wife Irena, whose ambition and motivation was to enhance the visibility of these dedicated winemakers. They believed that these smaller, South Moravian wineries were making fantastic wine, yet were underrepresented on wine lists and in wine shops in Prague.
Petr and Irena decided to change all that. They realized that by gathering these winemakers together, under one distribution umbrella, and uniting them by a shared vision of innovation and minimal intervention winemaking, Neznámí Vinaři could properly introduce these wines into the Prague wine scene.
Currently, Neznámí Vinaři, which roughly translates to ‘Unknown Winemakers,’ has ten wineries in their portfolio, each with their own individual story, motivation, and vision. Their passion and enthusiasm for South Moravian wine is palpable, and they work tirelessly to present these wines to other markets. I happily share the same enthusiasm they do for South Moravia, and I have the utmost respect for their entrepreneurship.
Neznámí Vinaři will soon be opening a storefront in Prague, where you can enjoy sampling wines from their portfolio. More details and their full portfolio can be found on their website.
Vinařství Filiberk
Founded by Robert Tichý in 2016, along with his wife and father in law, Filiberk Winery farms just 4.5 hectares of land in the small wine village of Kobylí, located in the larger subregion of Velké Pavlovice. This region is famed for the Blue Mountains, or Modré Hory, an area that receives slightly drier conditions and sunnier weather, thus facilitating the cultivation of red grape varieties. Producing only dry wines from regional grapes like Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Blanc, Cabernet Moravia, and Frankovka, Filiberk winery prides themselves on low intervention winery practices both in the cellar and the vineyard. They are even experimenting with Pet Nat production!
Their vineyards are located on south facing slopes in Kobyli, on soils where ancient seabeds had once dominated the landscape. Because of this, the subsoil found in Kobylí is rich in limestone, minerals, and fossilized shells, thus offering an enviable vineyard site for the cultivation of terroir driven vines. I have yet to visit Filiberk Winery, but I have been to Kobylí, and you can read more about the terroir and my experience here.
Close to a decade ago, the family had their first small vineyard plot, named Filiberk, in Němčičky, a neighboring village to Kobylí. They selected the name Filiberk for their current winery, as a way to remind them of their beginnings, farming their first vines together as a family.
Robert Tichý hails from the northern part of the Czech Republic, but now calls Kobylí home. He is excited about continuing his work in the vineyards with his wife and father in law, aiming to enhance each vintage with a sense of individuality and terroir.
Interested in ordering? A simple message on Facebook or quick email to Robert is all you need to plan your order and delivery.
Vinařství Zbyněk Osička
Since 2009, after learning the ropes from his grandfather, Zbyněk Osička has been making wine under his own label. His stone cellar is just one of 600 total wine cellars in the tiny South Moravian village of Velké Bílovice, an area historically known for wine production.
Inheriting the family’s vineyards when he was just eighteen years old, Zbyněk discovered the fascinating winemaking world at a fairly early age. Although initially getting off to a rocky start, producing just a few hundred bottles that were shared amongst his friends, Zbyněk has since developed his own unique style, and often lends his expertise to other new winemakers, such as his friends at Vinařství Filiberk. His bottles are labeled with the number ‘8’, a nickname to which his friends have bestowed upon him years ago.
Zbyněk ensures that each bottle is up to top standards, using only the best fruit grown in his own vineyards. He does not produce red wine, but instead focuses on white, rose, and Frizzante wines, some of which have garnered international attention.
In fact, his 2017 Frankovka rosé won a silver medal at the Mondial du Rosé Competition in Cannes, France, an area of the world particularly renowned for their high quality rosé production. His wines exude a freshness and balance that is highly sought after for those looking for premium quality wines at affordable prices.
Interested in ordering? Head over to their e-shop online, or pick up a selection of their bottles at Vinotéka U Tří Knížat.
What I Tasted
Zbyněk Osička Sauvignon Blanc 2018 Polosuché - I was honestly quite surprised at the high quality of this Sauvignon Blanc. Typically, this is a grape that is vinified to be dry, with very little residual sugar, as seen in classic examples from Bordeaux, the Loire Valley, Napa Valley, and New Zealand. Yet Zbyněk’s version includes just under 10 grams of residual sugar, offering slightly juicier, riper flavors on the palate.
But the real surprise came on the aromatics, evoking notes of grass, grapefruit, and flinty minerality, qualities not often found in Moravian, off-dry Sauvignon Blanc. The palate was still refreshing, and any of the residual sugar was quickly swept aside by zesty acidity and clean, citrus flavors. This is a wine to be matched up with grilled shrimp, oysters, or creamy goat cheese, and in my opinion, is a defining intersection between old world and new world styles of Sauvignon Blanc.
Zbyněk Osička Rulandské Šedé 2017 Barrique- Zbyněk Osička’s Pinot Gris, or as it is known here in South Moravia, Rulandské Šedé, is a dense, complex wine, that undergoes 12 months of barrel maturation in Slavonian oak, followed by 4 months of maturation in Acacia oak barrel. This combination of oak barrel maturation allows for a smoother, softer tannin to be slowly incorporated into the texture of the wine.
This is definitely a white wine for red wine drinkers, offering highly concentrated notes of vanilla, lemon, coconut, and chopped walnuts, with hints of peach and apricot on the textured finish. This wine is full bodied and round, with spicy tannins and medium acidity, and would easily stand up to a whole roast chicken or grilled beef sirloin.
Zbyněk Osička Frankovka Rosé 2019 Polosladké- The intense color on this rosé is remarkable, as it appears almost hot pink in the glass. Zbyněk was able to strike the perfect balance on color extraction from his rosé, managing to achieve a deeply pronounced color without any bitter phenolics from the grape skins.
Well-defined aromas of strawberry pie, raspberry, and confectionery notes of candied watermelon permeate from the glass. Although sitting at 27 grams of residual sugar, there is plenty of fresh, zippy acidity to eliminate any cloying sweetness. Notes of red currant and red apple are succulent and juicy, showcasing a mouth filling, red fruited finish. This is a wine to be paired up with cheesecake or strawberry ricotta tarts.
Vinařství Volařík
I have been a massive fan of Vinařství Volařík since first tasting their wines at their winery in April 2019, and so it is with great pleasure that I had the opportunity to speak with Radana Stahalová, daughter of famed winemaker Miroslav Volařík.
Although the family had been making wine for generations, Miroslav Volařík started his winery in 2007, with a vision to craft elegant, premium sparkling, white, and rose wines using the local, indigenous grapes.
First introduced by the Romans, viticulture in Mikulov dates back centuries. Yet it was the German population who had introduced more modern, advanced vineyard and winery management techniques during the 19th and early 20th centuries, that really got the ball rolling.
Yet after World War II, the Germans were expelled from Mikulov, and certain Czech winemakers, like Miroslav’s father Leopold, took it upon themselves to continue on with the German winemaking traditions. Communism proved to be an enormous impediment to privately owned, premium winemaking, thus it was not until 1989, that Czech winemakers could sell their wines as independent, commercial businesses.
In 2007, Miroslav Volařík decided to refocus his attention and investments into producing top quality wines, using state of the art equipment and more meticulous vineyard management. Today, the winery farms over 40 hectares of land in various prestigious vineyard sites in Mikulov, including Bavory, Dolní Dunajovice, and Perná.
Under the direction of Miroslav Volařík, Chief Executive Officer Zdenek Tresek, and head oenologist Eliška Becková, the winery crafts elegant, terroir driven wines that reflect the limestone soils of the Pálava hills, while retaining a style that is uniquely their own. They focus on expressive, varietal wines that for me, highlight the key characteristics in each particular grape.
Each wine represents its own individual influence in Moravian wine culture, and with production nearing 150,000 bottles a year, Volařík insists on attentive vineyard work, aiming for the highest quality fruit to drive their winemaking vision forward.
Sample their wines throughout Brno and South Moravia, or head to their newly renovated, modern tasting room in Mikulov.
Interested in Ordering? Check out their e-shop, or pick up a selection of their bottles in Brno’s city center at Global Wines or Vinotéka U Tří Knížat. And if you live in the US, check out Ahtel Wines, who is the exclusive importer of Vinařství Volařík.
What I Tasted
Vinařství Volařík - Johanniter 2019 - Organic Line - Vinařství Volařík farms 4 hectares of organic vines, typically using hybrid or crossed grape varieties, that offer significantly more resistance to harmful fungus or molds, natural occurrences that can easily wipe out a vineyard.
Johanniter is one of these remarkable hybrid varieties, indigenous to Freiburg, Germany, that is the genetic offspring of Riesling and Seyval Villard 12-481. It was developed to withstand unpredictable spring frosts and common vineyard diseases, producing wines that are fruity and bright.
Primary fruit aromas of linden blossom, tangerine, mandarine, and lemon highlight the inherent quality of the variety, while a saline driven backbone carries through on the palate. This is the ideal wine to be served at a cocktail party or late morning brunch, with plenty of eggs, bacon, and hash browns.
Vinařství Volařík Pálava 2018 U Venuše
Pálava is a grape indigenous to the Czech Republic, created in 1953 by Ing. Josef Veverka. Similar to Johanniter, Pálava was also purposefully engineered to withstand unexpected spring frosts and unpredictable molds and fungal diseases, common to many vineyards around the world. Named after the UNESCO protected Pálava hills, the grape is a crossing of Gewürztraminer and Müller-Thurgau, offering an inviting nose rich with aromas of rose, lychee, and stone fruit, and can be crafted in either a dry or sweet style.
Vinařství Volařík fully understands the powerful aromatics and texture of Pálava, and has created something magnificent in their bottling of U Venuše. The medium gold intensity on the color is striking, while aromas of apricot, spice, and honey are pronounced and integrated. This wine matures on fine lees in old oak barrels for 12 months, allowing for a complex, textural development on the palate.
There is nothing simple about this wine, it is truly complex, and evolves with every sip. In addition to being utterly delicious, this wine also took home the top prize for dry white wine at the recent Vinalies competition in France. The U Venuše is a fantastic example of harnessing the magic of the Pálava hills, while using lees maturation and oak barrel ageing to craft a uniquely stunning wine. I can only imagine this wine with a meaty codfish garnished with lemon butter sauce and chives.
As things begin to open back up in the Czech Republic, I’ve decided to put a pause on my live chats for the moment. But have no fear, I will continue to explore this fabulous world of Moravian wine.
Pick up the latest copy of Ni-Kam in Brno, and check out my monthly column ‘What I’m Drinking,’ featuring some of my favorite grape varieties and top wineries to seek out in the region.
Brno, you’re amazing, and I am thrilled to be living in this dynamic, energetic city. Na zdraví!
