#strekov

Two brothers who inherited winemaking skills through generations. Their grandfather moved from the small settlement of Kisnána which is part of the Mátra wine region in Hungary to Strekov in Slovakia during exchange of populations in 1948. Their parents, both winemakers, sent the brothers to study winemaking and gain experiences in the new world. They gathered knowledge in California and New Zealand and now harvest its fruits to produce fresh wines with young spirit in leading south Slovakian region of Strekov.

Bertas started to build up their brand in 2007 from humble 1 000 bottles. Encouraged by the success they extended their production in 2013 and by today they produce over 35 000 bottles a year. By that time they realised the potential of local varieties as Welsch riesling, Moravian muscat or Saint Laurent, but also Sauvignon and Alibernet are in their portfolio. As every row of the wineyard is specific, they often create selections of the best plots of their wineyards, so call “Winemakers choice”.

In Slovakia they are also frontrunners of the cork-free zone. Inspired by George Fistonich, New Zealand´s leading winemaker, they introduced screw caps instead of wine corks. That is a wise choice because in that way their wines keep their most characteristic feature - freshness and fruitiness.

credits: https://www.vinarstvoberta.sk/en/

Brothers Tamás and László Kasnyik have been running amongst vineyards since childhood . Their dream of producing their own wine became reality in 2006 when they first got on the endeavour of winemaking. Today, they are amongst the frontrunners of the Authentists movement launched by common minded winemakers who seek for authentic, natural expression of central European wine.

Pannonia, as part of the former Roman empire, is for them the cradle of central European viticulture, its laws and technology grow from the same root which is common for all wine loving nations surrounded by the Alps and the Carpathian mountains.

You will find mostly local varieties like Welsh riesling, Gruner veltliner, Blaufrankish or Danube in the Kasnyik collection. Their wines are robust as the contact with skin of the grape is often extended. They like to experiment, so you could taste a seven days macerated Welsh riesling which reminds of an orange wine, but keeps its varietal characteristics. Kasnyik brothers avoid additives and modern chemical interventions to produce the cleanest possible wine from what the vineyard has to offer.

for more: https://kasnyikwine.sk/

Being one of the founding fathers of the Authentists mouvement in south Slovakia, Andras Matyas is an emblematic example of a natural wine maker. Producing on around 12 hectares, his grapes are being treated in an ecological manner. He follows this path in the cellar and manages to produce wines which show strong local character.

Matyas winery is located in Nová Vieska, a small village in the famous Strekov region in south Slovakia. When entering the winemakers production site, you will have an impression of stepping into his own house, surrounded by trees, wineyards and other small cottages. This is a purely family issue - welcoming and cosy. So are the wines produced by this authentic winemaker.

He concentrates on varieties which have long tradition in the region like that of Feteasca regala, Welsh riesling or Blaufrankish. But his wineyards produce equally good quality of well know varieties like Pinot blanc, which the family proudly consider to be their jewel.

for more: http://matyaspince.sk/site/sk/

Magnificently perched on a steep cliff above the Elbe River and overlooking the city of Ustí nad Labem, Střekov Castle is one of the most visited cultural monuments in North Bohemia. Now a romantic ruin, it still retains a central hall, other rooms and a cylindrical Gothic tower. Its dramatic silhouette can be seen from kilometers away, as well as from the trains running between Prague and Dresden that pass directly along the opposite bank.

Historical Origins

The fortress-like Střekov Castle was built in 1316 for John of Luxemburg by his royal architect and engineer, Pešik of Veitmile. It originally guarded the important trade route to Germany.

After 1479, the family Glacs´of Starý Dvůr acquired the Castle, repaired the fortifications and built two houses next to the smaller tower and eastern wall. The castle continued to change hands until 1563, when it was purchased by Václav of Lobkowicz. It was inherited in 1599 by Adam Havel of Lobkowicz, from whom it passed in 1615 to the Roudnice branch of the Lobkowicz family.

The Castle suffered severe damage during the Thirty Years' War under successive Imperial, Saxon and Swedish occupations because of its strategic importance. During the Seven Years' War the castle was again alternately besieged and captured by Austrian and Prussian armies, resulting in further destruction. Stabilization repairs were also carried out.

Significant Architectural Features

The castle area is divided into two parts, which are connected by an arched bridge that spans a natural moat. Still remaining from the earliest period of construction are an irregular oblong section of the palace, its connecting monumental round tower and a smaller tower that guarded the castle entrance. Semi-round bastions fortify the structure.

A single castle with two connected sections was an unusual architectural style for the period in which Střekov Castle was built. The structure’s bastions are also a rare feature. Inspired by French examples, Střekov Castle’s bastions are perhaps the first example of this type of defensive architecture in Bohemia.

Recent History

In the 19th century, a renewed interest in old ruins set in romantic natural settings motivated poets, painters and musicians to visit Střekov Castle. Goethe declared the view from the property’s perch above the Elbe to be the most beautiful in Central Europe. Richard Wagner’s sojourn in the Castle is said to have inspired him to write his opera Tannhäuser.

On the 26th of June 2014, central European countries demonstrated their rising wine industry in Brussels. Slovakia, Hungary and Czech Republic brought to the European capital a broad portfolio of their wines. At this occasion, I had the opportunity to deliver a speech about Slovakia:

"First of all let me welcome you at this unique event which would not take place without the generous contribution of all the participating representations. I am honored that central European regions and cities were able to find a common goal and prove that through cooperation everyone can profit.

I would like to present the wines of Slovakia. I will not speak about each wine concretely or about its tasting notes. Rather my aim is to show that we can already speak of a Slovakian wine. To give you a bite of our small country.

Today, we are offering you to taste the western part of Slovakia, at the point where it touches Czech Republic to the west and Hungary to the south. Geographically this is the part encompassed by Carpathian mountains and Danube river. We generally enjoy continental climate with late spring, short but hot summers, mild sunny autumns and relatively cold winters. It rains sparingly and in the southern part, the summers can be very dry. The latitude spreads around the 48th and 49th parallel, that is similar to Burgenland or Alsace. The climate and soil types vary from north to south. Broadly speaking, as you get from the hills with light and stony soils through to Danubian plain with heavy and clay soils the character of the wine changes from crispy to mineral.

The vines were cultivated in this area already by the Celts some 2600 years ago. The oldest winemaking area spreads along the Lesser Carpathians, northeast of Bratislava. It has been a natural consequence of the proximity of Danube allowing to reach the main central European cities by river that enhanced the commercial expansion. Moreover, Bratislava used to play a key role in the Habsburg Empire.

Significant changes occurred as the Communist party seized power in 1948, when state confiscated all land estates that were larger than one tenth of a hectare per person, and turned them into collective production units. The families were allowed to keep only small parcels for their own use. At this period, the vineyard acreage doubled and the production switched to maximum quantities of simple blends.

Fortunately, after the Iron curtain was dismantled in 1989, family producers or their heirs received the confiscated vineyards back. For several reasons, the area for cultivation was largely diminished and nowadays we can count around 14 thousand hectares of vineyards (however only 10 thousand are actively used). On the other hand, the quality has been constantly rising as the yields are being kept low and the producers have already access to modern technologies. The recent success at a variety of international wine competitions (such as gold medals from AWC Vienna or Concours Mondial de Brussels) shows that Slovakian winemakers are beginning to find their place in the international wine market.

The capital of Slovakian winemaking is Pezinok, situated in Lesser Carpathians, just some 20 minutes by train north of Bratislava. This is the largest vineyard area with the highest number of active farmers. The climate is regarded as cooler but it is still warmer than comparable European districts (in Alsace or Mosel). The area of Lesser Carpathians is best suited for fresh white wines and lighter reds that are gaining popularity. The area is regularly promoted by Days of Open Cellars, festivities taking place on the same day in several smaller cities.

We are presenting three winemakers from this region, I would mention one of them. Pavelka and Son is a family owned producer with a history of five generations of winemakers. They cultivate around 50 hectares of vineyards amongst which you will find varieties such as Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Blanc or Pinot Noir. I would like to point your attention to their cuvée "Trojka" which is composed of varieties Alibernet, Dornfelder and Blau Fränkish. All of them are blue varieties typically grown in our country, even though not all of them come from the central Europe. Alibernet is a grape crossing which was created in 1950 in Odesa institute for viticulture. It was meant to be a variety giving dark tones to contribute to colour. However, as its parents were Alicante Bouschet and Cabernet Sauvignon, the winemakers found out that the variety is giving full bodied, dark inky and extractive wines even on its own. The aromas are reminiscent of Cabernet Sauvignon but the expression is wilder. It is said to be a real beast to deal with in the cellar as it is a challenge for the winemaker to control it. But Alibernet can reward the winemaker’s effort with a harmonious, fruit-oriented and robust character.

When coming to the south, we will reach two intertwined regions: Nitra and South Slovakia. They are dominated by the city of Nitra that has a landscape crisscrossed by rivers and small mountain ranges that provide a multitude of local climates. Nitra is known for its roses of Cabernet Sauvignon and Blau Fränkish which they celebrate by their festival of rosé wines. South Slovakian region spreads around the fertile lowlands towards Danube. It is the warmest area that provides highly matured grapes. The winemaking is dispersed in small villages around Strekov.

Amongst the three winemakers we are offering I would highlight two small producers from Trnovec and Strekov. They are both cultivating around 15 hectares with strong focus on the treatment of the vineyard.

The winemaker Strekov 1075 is inspired by the region Friuli in the north east Italy where orange wines are being produced. He is oriented on indigenous varieties such as Welshriesling, Grüner Veltliner, or Blau Fränkish. He farms organically, with old fashioned low pruning, all fermentations occur spontaneously in open vats without temperature control or additives.

Producer Trnovec is also a small family owned company. Their pride is the Pinot blanc variety which has been noted for its semi-sweet and sweet style. As it was mentioned, the west of Slovakia enjoys hot summers, but can suffer cold winters. This is an opportunity for a winemaker to prove his patience. If the vintage is generous and the winemaker lucky, he can leave the grapes in the vineyard until January. Then he has to wait for the temperature to fall bellow -7 degrees when he can pick the grapes. At this condition the water is frozen in the grapes, and the only liquid pressed out is the concentrated sweetness of the essence of grapes. This is how the ice wine is created.

Slovakia has always been a place where influences from different parts of Europe have been mingling. It is the furthest region where Romans have gone. Maybe they stopped here because the vines didn´t grow well more to the north.  Anyway it seems that Slovakian winemakers are starting to be realise the known fact that a wine is created by human experience, terroir of the vineyard and the used technology. I believe there is a large potential in Slovakia and that projects aiming at sharing knowledge will bring their fruit. We are living in times when each winemaker can start building his own identity."

  The text is based on: Torsten Rundqvist. Slovak Wine Country, Third Level Essay, Munskänkarna Tasting Society, 2014.

A video report of the event available here:

The modern society desires intense experiences. Fast, easily digestible, impulsive and ecstatic. Sometimes it seems as if we were competing who will use a more distinguished drug and who will undergo a higher state of pleasure, the evasive blissfulness of the moment. In Strekov, Slovakia, they already understood that this is a philosophical clash of these days which can be found in wine too. Their way is to plunge into the wine, search for it, live with it in eternity and escape the vanishing perfumes which hide its true nature.

Mr. Zsolt Sütő, one of the owners of Strekov 1075 winery, managed to describe two colliding tendencies in the contemporary wine world (video in Slovak available here). In general the difference is made by the way modern technologies are used. Either the winery tries to implement the most advanced devices in the field or follows the way of imitation of traditionally applied methods used for generations. The former leads to clean and aromatic wines dressed in a colorful seducing costume. However, the later, by the winemaker Sütő called authentic wine, will prefer to be hidden. It will be subtle and demanding. A relationship to such a wine must be developed deliberately. One shall fight for it as for a woman knowing her value.

The character of viticulture was rearranged from the ground in Strekov 1075. They started in the vineyard, reflected on how the vine itself would like to “live”. How it would like to be taken care of. Therefore the winery returned to a regionally historical method of planting the stems – “on the head”. This means that every stem is rooted much deeper into the soil than usual so that the shoots have a closer access to nutrients. The tendrils are then twining around a single wooden stake without any wire trellis. In order to lower the need of any alien chemicals, the vineyards are kept in an ecological balance. The soil is not fertilized and the way vines are treated fosters deep rooting. As you can imagine, the desire to get closer to their grandfathers requires a lot of physical effort. You have to kneel down in front of a vine, almost walk on your knees by it. So the human is inevitable for all the “intimate” work which has to be done in such a vineyard.  

It is not that important what this kind of wine is like, which associations does it reminds us of. Rather everyone should try to discover it himself with regard to his own past reminiscences. Immerse into the wine, make some effort, at least as much as the winemaker who has put all his trust at stake. The message of such wine will not be as straightforward as that of a New Zealand's Sauvignon which would be stunning with its aromas of sheep running through green meadows by ocean. Neither will it lure as three levels of chestnut purée with baked fawn back and fried onion rings. It will demand our engagement and trust and maybe we´ll have to go to the third sip to understand it.