Wine Geeks Have Long Championed Moravian Wine. Now You Should, Too
If you’re not feeling completely au courant when it comes to Moravian wine, cut yourself some slack. The eastern half of the Czech Republic gets relatively few visitors from North America, especially compared to the more western region of Bohemia and its beautiful capital, Prague—to say nothing of tourism-focused destinations like France and Italy. Even for experts, Moravia is a bit like a hipster’s favorite band: pretty darn obscure.
That wasn’t always the case. Wedged between Austria, Poland and Slovakia, Moravia has long been known for its wine, at least in this part of the Old World. In the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the majority of wine served in Vienna came from nearby Moravia, where the winemaking tradition dates back more than a millennium.
After a century or so of isolation due to wars and politics, Moravian wine only really started to regain international renown about a decade ago, when its first real exports started showing up stateside. Early fans often praised its unusual grapes, like Pálava, a local cross between Gewürztraminer and Müller-Thurgau named after the area’s Pálava Hills.
Klára Kollarová, head sommelier at the Czech Republic’s National Wine Center, says that even experts can be fooled by Pálava’s bouquet of tropical fruit and spice.
“This is very surprising for people, because they smell it and they say, ‘Oh, this might be sweet,’ but then it can be bone dry, and that really brings up the spiciness,” she says. “It’s a perfect wine for pairing with food.”
The food-friendly nature of many Moravian bottles has earned kudos from wine writers and influencers. Another selling point: the region boasts a handful of leading natural winemakers, including Milan Nestarec and Richard Stávek.
“It’s very funny, because natural wine is not even one percent of production, but it’s very influential in terms of the picture of Moravian wine outside the country,” says Jan Čulík, manager at Alma Wines in Prague and the organizer of the Bottled Alive natural wine festival in Tábor, South Bohemia.
Moravian wines are best considered in the context of the greater Central European region, he says, since they share many elements with Austria and Hungary. Moravia is positioned slightly further north, however, and the array of soils and microclimates across its four subregions adds a lot of complexity.
“We can call it a more northern wine region,” he says. “You can expect some really nice acidity and fruitiness, though that also depends on the vintage. I think the wines can be pretty playful.”
Small Producers, Big Variety
One interesting feature of Moravian producers is the tendency to have a wide array of varietals. That fits with the area’s history. After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, many local winemakers got back small family plots that had been collectivized during the Communist Era, sometimes with small holdovers of formerly popular grapes like Sylvaner and Neuburger.
Add in a desire to work with previously unavailable cultivars from Western Europe and an ongoing interest in new crosses, and you have a place where even tiny producers might offer 12 or even 15 single-varietal wines.
According to the National Wine Center, some 73 different grape varietals are currently grown across Moravia.
That diversity can also make it hard to simplify—and spread the word about—Moravian wine, though that’s catching up, too. This fall, a handful of producers will head out on a road show across the U.S., in partnership with the National Wine Center and Arizona’s Urban Distributors.
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Petra Červená, managing partner at Urban Distributors, says the autumn tour will offer tastings and meet-the-vintner events in New York, D.C., Chicago, Houston, and other cities.
“We want to find partners who are interested in authentic wines from smaller wineries, from sustainable, organic winemakers, wines that have a different character than Americans are used to,” she says. For her, great Moravian wines are really about a return to normalcy. “The current era that we call the renaissance of Czech winemaking is basically getting back to traditions that were interrupted by the former regime.”
There are four main wine subregions in Moravia. Together, they make about 96% of the Czech Republic’s wine:
Znojemská
Centered around the city of Znojmo, this region is famous for Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Grüner Veltliner, among other varietals.
Noteworthy producers: Thaya, Lahofer, Pialek & Jäger, Loigi
Mikulovská
Home to the limestone Palava Hills and the castle-capped hilltop town of Mikulov, known for Welschriesling, Pálava, Pinot Blanc and other aromatic whites.
Noteworthy producers: Volařík, Mikrosvín, Fabig
Velkopavlovická
The area around Velké Pavlovice is known for Frankovka (Blaufränkisch), Merlot and Svatovavřinecké (St. Laurent), as well as whites.
Noteworthy producers: Jan Stávek, Nestarec, Osička, Richard Stávek, Sedlák
Slovácká
The easternmost region’s Carpathian slopes add character to Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Riesling and other fragrant whites.
Noteworthy producers: Zámecké Vinařství Bzenec, Dlúhé Grefty, Tesařík, Podkovné
In addition, there are two small wine subregions in Bohemia:
Litoměřická
The hilly Bohemian Gate region along the Labe river is famous for Müller-Thurgau, Riesling and Pinot Noir.
Noteworthy producers: Žernosecké, Bogdan Trojak, Porta Bohemica
Mělnická
Riesling and Pinot Noir thrive in this area around the confluence of two rivers, the Labe and the Vltava, where many Czech noble families traditionally owned castles and vineyards.
Noteworthy producers: Zámek Lobkowicz Roudnice, Vinné Sklepy Kutná Hora
How to Read Moravian Wine Labels
In line with European standards, Czech-language wine labels should indicate the Vinařská oblast, or wine region (most often Moravia, or Morava in Czech), as well as the podoblast, or subregion.
When indicated, obec means the village or other municipality, while trať indicates a specific vineyard.
Most imports will either be classified as Jakostní víno—literally “quality wine”—or Jakostní víno s přívlastkem, meaning “quality wine with special attributes.”
The first category can be either a quality varietal wine (Jakostní víno odrůdové), which can contain a maximum of three grape varieties, or a quality brand wine (Jakostní víno známkové) meaning a cuvée of at least two varieties.
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Like the Brix scale used by winemakers in France and other countries, Czech and Slovak winemakers measure wine must in degrees (º or ºNM), which represent the percent of sugar in the grape must before fermentation. Known in Czech as the Normalizovaný moštoměr, the scale is also used to define five categories of Moravian wine. In order of strength on the Czech and Slovak wine must scale, the Moravian quality wines with special attributes are as follows:
- Kabinetní víno (kabinet wine): at least 19°, or around 21° Bx
- Pozdní sběr (late harvest): at least 21°, or around 23° Bx
- Výběr z hroznů (selection of grapes) at least 24°, or around 25° Bx
- Výběr z bobulí (selection of berries): at least 27°, or around 28° Bx
- Výběr z cibéb (selection of Botrytis-affected berries): at least 32º, or around 33° Bx
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