South Moravia is the most important wine region in Czeh Republic. Miukulov is one of its charming historical cities located 2,5-hour drive from Prague. The region includes 96% of the country’s vineyards.
Wine growing in this region has been reliably traced back to the Roman Empire period – the 2nd century AD.
Ideally situated north of the Alps and at the Western edge of the Carpathian Mountains, the region benefits from a cooler climate, which excels at white wine production. Quality can be outstanding, especially the Moravian whites. Mikulov has certainly the highest concentration of wine cellars for tastings, as well as a fairytale chateau on a hill overlooking the town. Like a guardian, the Pálava Hills, declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, seem to be carefully watching the vines.
Posted By : Tourist29853440021
We highly recommend this tour!
We're rather delayed in writing our review so we've had some time to reflect on our experience.
We fondly reminisce about our time traveling to Moravia with Andrea every time we open a bottle of wine. This tour was the highlight of our extensive trip across Europe and such a lovey way to end our travel.
Andrea tuned into us very quicky and adapted the tour in a manner that felt well curated to delight us. She has an extensive and established network to call upon which was obvious by the warmth we were received in all of the places we visited. Everyone we met was incredibly generous and welcoming and our heartfelt thanks goes to all of the oenologists who passionately shared their craft with us.
We thought we knew a thing or two about wine but learned so much more about terroir, weather, grapes, geography, history etc.
Andrea you are incredibly hospitable, we miss you.
Robert & Alison McIntyre
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Posted On : 2024-06-16 00:31:38 
Posted By : Arthur P
Andrea was a fabulous guide as was the driver. She took us to great vineyards with friendly knowledgeable people. I would take the tour again in a heartbeat!
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Posted On : 2022-09-14 16:47:05
Posted By : Deb B
Is this isn't the ULTIMATE wine tour, I don't know what is. This private experience should be on every food & wine lover's MUST-DO list. It's a bit pricey but worth every penny and you will enjoy every moment. GO!
Here is a detailed overview:
We had a very interesting three days in the Czech wine region with our very own personal Wine Travel in Czech guide, Andrea Kotaskova. The oh-so lovely Andrea was dedicated to us for the entire three days. She served as our personal driver, wine expert, and tour guide from the minute she picked us up at our inn in Prague until we boarded the train in Breclav, CZ (where Andrea dropped us off, at our request).
Andrea was a wonderful and knowledgeable wine expert and guide. Thank goodness we booked her to guide us every step of the way as the Czech language can be a little challenging for Americans (once you are out of the big cities, where English is not so prevalent. Andrea, also served as the perfect English <-> Czech translator, ensuring our three days in the wine region were perfect).
From the moment Andrea picked us up at our inn in the Castle Quarter of Prague, she entertained us with delightful conversation about her business and her family as she drove us through the lovely Czech countryside for the three hours it took to get to Moravia.
First stop (not counting a latte break at a super new and clean gas station / WC stop along the highway) was a leisurely walk in the absolutely charming and colorful little town of Mikulov. We enjoyed a light lunch in the tiny little KUK Bistro cafe (which had maybe 4 or 5 little tables). We ordered their soup of the day, a lentil, onion and mushroom soup which was absolutely delicious, HUGE portions, and so inexpensive by US standards. This nice big bowl of hot soup was perfect on what was otherwise a very cold and grey day.
We followed lunch with a walk around the Chateau Mikulov gardens (we would have toured inside the chateau but they are closed on Mondays). The chateau is the biggest, most noticeable place in Mikulov...you can't miss it. We also toured the chapel and tomb dedicated to a local, historic, noble family, which all served to get us well acquainted with the local culture. We really loved the radiant architecture of this charming little town.
Next, we checked in to our "wine cellar" style room (a basement apartment) at the Apartment Antico inn in Mikulov. Andrea had personally booked the room for us, specifically selected to give us the ultimate wine country experience. The room was quite unique, to say the least, and I must say, while I was initially somewhat skeptical, we rather enjoyed our two nights there in our nouveau rustic wine cellar room. Thankfully Andrea was able to communicate with the inn keeper as I don't think my four-word Czech vocabulary correlated much, if at all, with his four-word English vocabulary. Andrea was an excellent translator so we had all the help we needed to make our accommodations as comfortable as possible. Fortunately, the inn keeper was very kind and willing to carry our two fully-packed (and heavy) travel bags down the very narrow and steep stairway to our basement apartment.
I think my six-foot-plus tall husband was a bit taken aback to find our room had a rather low, rounded (wine barrel shaped) ceiling and an even shorter door that led into the "powder room"....my dear husband managed to hit his head on that door every time he went in! I must say, he was a very good sport about the lack of a shower (which most Americans are used to and expect). With all our experience traveling around Europe, we have come to expect we may have to suffice with just a bathtub now and then, as we did here. Interestingly, the bathtub (a really nice, modern, big and deep one) was one of the main features of the main sleeping bedroom. I loved it...my husband not so much, but he managed. A younger couple might find it to be just wonderful and very romantic.
After checking in to the inn Antico, Andrea took us to two different wineries for our first afternoon of wine tasting. We must have sampled 6 to 8 different wines everywhere we went. Good thing we caught on very quickly that we would need to pace ourselves and simply "taste" (versus "drink" the generous pours of each of) the local wines!
One thing we quickly became aware of: we actually knew nothing about Czech wine (90% of which are whites) going in to this excursion, perhaps because they export very little to the US....virtually all their production is consumed in Czech (or in some very limited quantities to other EU countries). By US standards, the prices for Czech wines are very reasonable....even for their highest quality premium editions.
It was all quite a delightful and educational couple of days of tasting. For the most part we really loved the Palova wines and some of the Welsh Rieslings (which weren't really Welsh at all). Do try them ALL if you ever go.
On our first night in town, Andrea had made dinner reservations, just for the two of us, in her favorite Mikulov restaurant, Sojka. Dinner there was just terrific. This little locals hang-out was fabulous, comfortable, and the people there couldn't have been nicer. I enjoyed a delicious Thai curry with chicken (the first time on this two-month European trip that we didn't focus on eating local fare) and my husband had Duck Confit (French!)....both were outstanding and it was actually a nice break from all the traditional German and Czech dishes (even though we loves those dishes, too).
Tuesday was pretty much a full day of wine tasting, with the exception of an early morning excursion to the Archaeological Park in Pavlov, which was really quite interesting, both in terms of the award winning eco-designed architecture of the museum, and the displays of their 40-50 thousand year-old relics, still positioned right where they were originally discovered in their archaeological digs. It was very well done and well-worth the visit (you really don't need to do wine-tasting ALL day, especially that early in the day).
At one of the wineries we visited on the second day, Gotberg (one of my favorites), our wine-tasting experience was led by the chief wine maker...a charmingly friendly and wine-passionate young man (whose looks, mannerisms, smile, and eyes reminded us of our son). While we enjoyed all the wineries we visited in Moravia, this one had a special calling for us.
Along the way, we realized why Czech wines are so little known in the US. Although the Czechs have been making wines in this region for over 600 years (they claim their Riesling is the King of Wines and the Wine of Kings), when the Communists took over all the buildings and all the businesses after WWII, they (the Communists) had no idea how to produce wine and basically ran these old historic businesses into the ground. It was only after the Velvet Revolution that some enterprising citizens decided to revitalize the wine making industry and started planting new vineyards.
By US standards, the Moravian vineyards look very young (much shorter, smaller vines than we are used to seeing in Napa). Most of the wineries we visited were less than 20 years old. But we must say, these people are very passionate and proud (deservedly so) of their wines and all they have accomplished since the turn of this century.
From a wine-tourist's perspective, it's more like touring Tuscany maybe 50 years ago (albeit, even then, Tuscan vineyards would have been around for a much longer time, just without the tourists). The Czech wine region is delightfully tourist-free and really a wonderful experience. We highly recommend it for anyone who has an interest in exploring new and untried wines (especially whites).
On the third and last day, our wine travel guide, Andrea, took us on a hike up to the top of the highest point in Mikulov for a great 360 degree view of the region, followed by a tour of the Castle in the town of Lednice (the summer "cottage" of the Liechtenstein family, for whom that other country is so named). The castle was spectacular (it didn't matter to us that the group tour was conducted in Czech, with no English translation)..the opulent wood-carved interior architecture and the massive castle grounds were incredible and well worth a visit. The town of Lednice appeared to be just as charming a place to stay as Mikulov, but Mikulov has far fewer (if any) tourists, which certainly appealed more to us as a home-base for this three-day adventure.
Overall, our wine tour guide, Andrea (a Prague native), was highly efficient, well-organized, and a great conversationalist. She kept us on our very active schedule without ever making us feel rushed.
We highly recommend hiring her or her Wine Travel in Czech business partner, Isabella (who we understand is from Paris), if you ever decide to visit the Czech wine region. It's a really special place to go if you want to get away from the tourist hubbub and be one of the first in your area to become more knowledgeable on Czech wine.
It was certainly a very special and unique part of our almost two months exploration in central / eastern Europe.
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Posted On : 2019-06-07 13:06:12
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