Mikulovská is one of four

Czech wine Wine in the Czech Republic is produced mainly in South Moravian Region, southern Moravia, although a few vineyards are located in Bohemia. However, Moravia accounts for around 96% of the country's vineyards, which is why Czech wine is more often r ...

regions within southern

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. The Mikulovská wine region, containing 30 wine villages, is famed for producing white wines grown in the

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

soils, particularly in and around the area of the Pálava Landscape Protected Area.Wine of the Czech Republic, '
Viticulture of Bohemia and Moravia
'', pg 10-11, Accessed: January 11th, 2011 Historically a centre of

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

and

winemaking Winemaking, wine-making, or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its Ethanol fermentation, fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over ...

in Moravia, Mikulovská is home to the historical town of

Mikulov Mikulov (; ) is a town in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,600 inhabitants. From the 16th to the 19th century, it was the cultural centre of the Jewish community of Moravia. The historic centr ...

, and the Czech National Wine Centre (Czech: ''Národní Vinařské Centrum'') and Wine Salon of the Czech Republic, located at Valtice Castle.

History

In the 2nd Century CE, the Roman 10th Legion based at

Vindobona Vindobona (; from Gaulish ''windo-'' "white" and ''bona'' "base/bottom") was a Roman military camp (or ) in the province of Pannonia, located on the site of the modern city of Vienna in Austria. The settlement area took on a new name in the 13 ...

built an extensive outpost near the

Amber Road The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Prehistoric trade routes between Northern and Southern Europe were defined by the amber trade. ...

and the Pálava Hills in Mikulovská, near the present-day village of

Pasohlávky Pasohlávky () is a municipality and village in Brno-Country District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 800 inhabitants. It is a summer resort at the Nové Mlýny Reservoir. Geography Pasohlávky is located about s ...

. Around the year 278, the Roman Emperor

Marcus Aurelius Probus Marcus Aurelius Probus (; 230–235 – September 282) was Roman emperor from 276 to 282. Probus was an active and successful general as well as a conscientious administrator, and in his reign of six years he secured prosperity for the inner p ...

annulled the edict of

Emperor Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a ...

that had prohibited the planting of grapes in colonies north of the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, and encouraged the planting of new vines in the northern Roman colonies. Modern-day archaeological excavations of the ancient Roman outpost near Pasohlávky have yielded many artifacts, including a vine pruning knife. Wine historians theorize that, during the Roman occupation, the

Grüner Veltliner Grüner Veltliner (Green Veltliner) ) is a white wine grape variety grown primarily in Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. The leaves of the grape vine are five-lobed with bunches that are long but compact, and deep green grapes ...

and

Welschriesling Welschriesling is a white wine grape variety, unrelated to the Rhine Riesling, that is grown throughout Central Europe. Origin The descendance of Welschriesling is uncertain. The German name ''Welschriesling'' literally means ' Romanic Riesling' ...

grape varieties This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species, including those unimportant to agriculture, see ''V ...

may have been introduced to the region. Viticulture was practiced during the

Great Moravian Empire Great Moravia (; , ''Meghálī Moravía''; ; ; , ), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to emerge in the area of Central Europe, possibly including territories which are today part of the Czech Repub ...

(833–906), as evidenced by numerous pruning knives and grape seeds unearthed during archaeological excavations of

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

settlements.Wine of the Czech Republic, '
History of Wine in Czech Republic
"'', Accessed: January 16th, 2011 In 1249,

Ottokar II of Bohemia Ottokar II (; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Austria, Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his death in 1278 ...

granted the land of Mikulov (then called Nikolsburg) and the surrounding area to the Austrian noble Henry I of

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

. Afterward, more vineyards were planted in the Pálava Hills. In 1309, a new set of viticultural and winemaking regulations was established for many southern Moravian villages, based on the application of Bergrecht laws and vineyard rules of Falkenstein, Lower Austria in the district of Mikulov. For those villages under the jurisdiction of the Falkenstein Bergrecht, Falkenstein served as the Supreme Appeals Court in vineyard disputes. By 1368, Mikulov was one of the largest wine centres in Moravia. In 1414, a large number of the vineyards around Mikulov and

Valtice Valtice (; ) is a town in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,600 inhabitants. It is known as part of Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The historic town centre is ...

were documented in the Liechtenstein Duties Register, later to become the oldest preserved register of the Liechtenstein vineyards. Georg Decker Joseph II

In the 16th century, vineyard planting reached a peak. After the Mikulov estate was purchased in 1575 by Adam von Dietrichstein, the Emperor's ambassador to the Spanish court, new vineyard plantings greatly expanded and new cellars were constructed at the Mikulov château. In 1643, the Renaissance wine barrel was commissioned by Prince Maximilian von Dietrichstein, grandson of Adam von Dietrichstein and the owner of the Mikulov estate. This enormous 1,014 hectolitre barrel was used to store wine collected as taxes from the peasants who rented the Prince's vineyards, and is one of the largest such barrels in Europe still in existence.Regional Museum in Mikulov, '
Renaissance Wine Barrel
'', Accessed: January 18th, 2011 The

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

(1618–1648) destroyed a significant portion of the vineyards in the Czech Republic, and over the next hundred years they were gradually replanted. In 1763, Austrian vintners asked

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

to limit new vineyard plantings in Moravia to reduce the competition from Moravian wines. In 1783, the local Bergrecht laws and the activities of the wine regulation court in Moravia were abolished by

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I, ...

and replaced with a new set of vineyard regulations for Moravia. Wine academies, dedicated to training capable enologists in the art and science of winemaking, were founded in the Mikulovská wine villages of Valtice in 1873,

Lednice Lednice (; ) is a municipality and village in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,200 inhabitants. It is known as part of Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Adminis ...

in 1895, and Mikulov in 1903. The vine pest

Phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belongs to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs); orig ...

arrived in Mikulov and

Dolní Dunajovice Dolní Dunajovice () is a municipality and village in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,700 inhabitants. History The first written mention of Dunajovice is from 1183. In the 13th century, it was p ...

in 1900, struck Perná in 1901, and hit

Horní Věstonice Horní Věstonice () is a municipality and village in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. Horní Věstonice lies approximately north-west of Břeclav, south of Brno, and south-east ...

and

Bavory Bavory () is a municipality and village in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The cou ...

in 1902, devastating the vineyards. Using Phylloxera-resistant rootstock, the vineyards were replanted with quality vines of single varietals. The establishment of modern wine laws in the Czech Republic began in 1995 with the enactment of Wine Act No. 115/1995 on viticulture and winemaking practices into the Collection of Laws (Sb). The wine section of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

regulations was translated into the Czech language and subsequently incorporated into the Wine Act. The original draft of the Amendment to the Wine Act also contained provisions for establishing the Czech Wine Fund through Act No. 50/2002 Sb. After the Czech Republic joined the European Union in 2004, the Wine Act No. 321/2004 Sb on viticulture and winemaking practices was adopted, bringing Czech wine legislation in conformity with EU standards.

Geography and climate

Mikulovská is located within the Breclav and Brno-venkov geopolitical districts of the

South Moravian Region The South Moravian Region (; , ; ), or just South Moravia, is an Regions of the Czech Republic, administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the south-western part of its historical region of Moravia. The region's capital is Brno, th ...

. Here the tail of the Western Carpathian Mountains extends through Mikulovská and forms the

Mikulov Highlands The Mikulov Highlands () is a mountain range in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. The Highlands, together with the Waschberg Zone and Lower Austria Inselberg threshold, form the South-Moravian Carpathians. Geography The Mikulo ...

which are composed of the Pálava Hills and the Milovická Hills. The Pálava Hills are formed of

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

limestone that can be seen as steep cliffs in some areas. Devín Hill is the highest peak at 549 metres (1,801 ft). The rolling Milovická Hills, located east of

, are composed of

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

limestone and

Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...

deposits of

flysch Flysch () is a sequence of sedimentary rock layers that progress from deep-water and turbidity flow deposits to shallow-water shales and sandstones. It is deposited when a deep basin forms rapidly on the continental side of a mountain building ep ...

argillite Argillite () is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of Friability, indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and Pelagic sediment, oozes. They contain variable amounts of silt-sized particles. T ...

s and

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

s. Calcareous

loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...

from the last ice age has been preserved in many places. The system of hills forms a unique

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

biosphere reservation, home to several rare protected plant and animal species. Surrounding the Mikulov Highlands and to the northwest are Cenozoic deposits of

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcare ...

clays, sands, and gravel. Situated at the northwest edge of the

Pannonian Plain The Pannonian Basin, with the term Carpathian Basin being sometimes preferred in Hungarian literature, is a large sedimentary basin situated in southeastern Central Europe. After the Treaty of Trianon following World War I, the geomorphologic ...

, the Mikulovská region is in the warmest and nearly the driest part of the Czech Republic. The

Thaya The Thaya (, ) is a river in the Czech Republic and Austria, a right tributary of the Morava (river), Morava River. It flows through the South Moravian Region in the Czech Republic and through Lower Austria in Austria. It is formed by the conflue ...

(Czech: ''Dyje'') River runs through the region from west to east, with a series of three dams forming the three

Nové Mlýny reservoirs The Nové Mlýny reservoirs () are three reservoirs behind the Nové Mlýny Dam on the Thaya River in the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central E ...

. Covering a combined 3,227 hectares, the reservoirs exert a moderating influence on the

macroclimate In viticulture, there are several levels of regional climates that are used to describe the ''terroir'' or immutable characteristics of an area. These levels can be as broad as a macroclimate which includes entire wine regions or as small as a mic ...

.Pálava Protected Landscape Area, '
Landscape Attributes of the Pálava
"'', Accessed: October 15th, 2011

Grape varieties and wine styles

More white grape (3,225 ha) than red grape varieties (1,210 ha) are grown in Mikulovská. Of the white varieties,

(Czech: ''Ryzlink vlašský'', 601 ha) and

(''Veltlínské zelené'', 393 ha), both of which are traditional to the region, predominate.

Riesling Riesling ( , ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...

(''Ryzlink rýnský'', 335 ha),

Müller Thurgau Müller may refer to: Companies * Müller (company), a German multinational dairy company ** Müller Milk & Ingredients, a UK subsidiary of the German company * Müller (store), a German retail chain * GMD Müller, a Swiss aerial lift manufacturi ...

(331 ha),

Sauvignon blanc Sauvignon blanc () is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the city of Bordeaux in France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an ind ...

(301 ha),

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

(268 ha), and

Pinot gris Pinot gris, pinot grigio (, ), or ''Grauburgunder'' is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the pinot noir variety, it normally has a pinkish-gray hue, accounting for its name, but th ...

(''Rulandské šedé'', 218 ha) are also grown. More

Gewürztraminer Gewürztraminer () is an aromatic wine grape variety, used in white wines, and which performs best in cooler climates. In English, it is sometimes referred to colloquially as Gewürz ( ; although this is never the case in German, because mean ...

(''Tramín červený'', 164 ha) is grown in Mikulovská than any other Moravian region. The most planted red varieties are Saint Laurent (''Svatovavrinecké'', 310 ha),

Blaufränkisch Blaufränkisch (; German language, German for ''blue Frankish grapes, Frankish'') is a dark-skinned list of grape varieties, variety of grape used for red wine. and California wine, California, DNA profiling has shown that Blaufränkisch is a c ...

(''Frankovka'', 248 ha),

Zweigelt The Zweigelt (), also known as Rotburger, is an Austrian hybrid grape variety created in 1922 by Friedrich Zweigelt (1888–1964), who later became Director of the Federal Institute and Experimental Station of Viticulture, Fruit Production and ...

(''Zweigeltrebe'', 181 ha), and

Pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...

(''Rulandské modré'', 172 ha). Plantings of

Blauer Portugieser Blauer Portugieser is a red Austrian, Slovenian wine, Croatian wine, Moravian and German wine grapeJ. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 542 Oxford University Press 2006 found primarily in the Rheinhessen, Pf ...

(''Modrý Portugal'', 92 ha) has decreased rapidly, while

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

(89 ha) has increased.

Wine classification

The Czech Wine Classification System, set in the Viticulture Act of 2004,Czech Wine Law, '
Viticulture Act of 2004
"'', Accessed: January 13th, 2011 is based on the sugar content of the grapes at harvest. Sugar content is measured using the Normalizovaný moštomer (°NM) scale, a measure of how many kilograms of sugar are in 100 litres of

must Must is freshly crushed Juice, fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace and typically makes up 7–23% of the total weight of the must. Making must ...

. 1 °NM indicates 1 kg of sugar in 100 L of must.

Wine municipalities and vineyards

Thirty wine municipalities, along with 182 registered

cadastral A cadastre or cadaster ( ) is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes and bounds, metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represente ...

vineyard tracts, are situated within Mikulovská and are defined under the Czech Viticulture Act.Czech Wine Law, '
Viticulture Act of 2004
"'', pp. 87-90, Accessed: 13 January 2011 By law, single-vineyard wines must have the name of the vineyard (Czech: ''trať''), as well as the wine municipality (''vinařská obec'') and viticultural area (''vinařská podoblast''), on the bottle label.

References

External links

Wine and Viticulture in MikulovCzech National Wine CentreWine Salon of the Czech Republic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikulovska wine South Moravian Region Wine regions of the Czech Republic