Pavlov - Wealth and magnificence grown out of wine

Not far from Mikulov, located on the route of the wine trail’s circle of Mikulov as well as on the long-distance Moravian wine route, the settlement of Pavlov can be found, situated on the bank of the water reservoir of Nové Mlýny. The area of this village has been continuously inhabited since the time of mammoth hunters. The first reference to the village dates back to the 11th century, when the settlement belonged to the chapter of Stará Boleslav. Even though the beginnings of the planting of the first vineyards in the settlement are lost in the mists of time, data from the historic register book of the Mikulov domain suggest that Pavlov is among the oldest wine settlements in the whole of Moravia. An entry from 1444 mentions Pavlov as the biggest wine settlement of the Mikulov domain with a duty to close both gates for the night – the rich village was then probably even fortified. Grape growing was a source of wealth for the settlement in succeeding centuries as well. Significant profits from the peasants’ fields mainly enriched the lords, who therefore took care to maintain the high standard of the viticulture economy. The general reputation of viticulture in Pavlov is confirmed by an old set of viticulture rules from 1589. At the beginning of the 17th century, 53% of the peasants’ land was planted with vines. Later grape growing underwent turbulent times during the Thirty Years' War, whose terrors resulted in the death of a quarter of the population of the village and a great proportion of the vineyards fell into decay. The last quarter of the 17th century was marked by renovation of vineyards and new tracks were planted with vines. Other landmarks in the history of the village were the initiation of the Blauer Portigieser variety in 1885 and the grafting of young plants on the rootstock resistant to the phylloxera louse, as a reaction to the invasion of this pest at the end of the 19th century. At the moment there are 165 hectares of registered vineyards in Pavlov. In recent years, chiefly Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Moravian Muscat have been planted under the castle of Děvičky, thereby complementing the traditional varieties of Welschriesling, Grüner Veltliner and Saint Laurent. Currently, 15 winegrowers registered at the Viticulture Fund are involved in wine production. Excellent wines of Pavlov now also include bio-wine, which is produced by a family farm employing techniques of ecological agriculture.  

The village square of Pavlov, an age-long residence address of wealthy winegrowers and the adjacent streets of Česká and Na cimbuří are unique specimens of countryside baroque, comparable to the most beautiful examples of this ornamental style in southern Bohemia. Česká Street also provides unique evidence of the development of winegrowers' buildings. At the base of the vineyards under the ruin of the castle Děvičky, simple underground cellar fronts abut massive single-storey pressing houses, which in turn adjoin the colourful facades of ostentatious yeoman’s estates. As early as the 17th century, the rich local yeomen built imposing over-cellar houses with pressing rooms and cellars underground, copying the style of the rich citizens of the town of Mikulov. The category of ‘preshauzník’ – a person living in a pressing house – appears for the first time in a register from the era of Empress Maria Theresa in 1754. Nonetheless, found graffiti from the Renaissance suggest that inhabited pressing houses had existed in the place before this date. The gables of the buildings always face the street, with the only buildings turned toward the street with their sloping roofs being from the 19th century. The ground floor, as a rule, includes the pressing room and the cellar, which are accessible from the street. The living quarters are on the first floor above the pressing room and there is a separate entrance. Cellars have a ceiling with brick vaults. Spacious pressing rooms are either equipped with a tunnel vault or the ceiling is made of wooden beams. The residential section on the first floor is composed of a chamber and dark kitchen, while the front part of the house was intended as a living room. Lavishly ornamented facades carry characteristic signs of the baroque construction style: corners with boscages, masonry trimming around windows, gables with scrolls, niches with statuettes of saints, etc. The complex of over-cellar winegrower’s houses in Česká street is a unit of exceptional architectural and town-planning value and, with the historical centre of Pavlov, was therefore declared a rural historical monument reservation. A very nice place for tasting wine is found in two vaulted cellars below the town hall. There you may find not only an archive of old first-rate wines but also a place to take a seat and savour the best wines of the winegrowers of Pavlov. The history of winemaking in Pavlov also includes a renovated fly press dated 1851. It has been placed in the upper part of the village, at the route of the Moravian wine trail as it ascends towards Klentnice.         

The screw press on the square calls to mind the olden days of the vineyard’s fame. It is made of oaks that used to stand on the rocks of the Pálava Highlands! The sweet-smelling wood was used for carving both the runner and the beam. The glory of olden days is linked to the press. But the same is true for current times... And this example of the old-time craftsman’s skill is connected not only to the fame of Pavlov’s wine but also to a charming legend. If you want to hear it out, you’ll have to find your way to the press.