Moravská Nová Ves - This is where Cabernet Moravia was born

On the right bank of the river Morava in the fertile plains of the Podluží region, grapes have been at home from time immemorial. Although it is true that the settlement has been entitled to use viticulture symbols – a vine with grapes, a ploughshare with a curved garden knife and two winegrower’s knives – in its seal only since 1651, when it was granted permission by Emperor Ferdinand II, still viticulture in the settlement was already a business enterprise for the old Moravians. In the place where the settlement is located, a colonizing village from the monastery of Velehrad called Waltersdorf used to stand in the middle of the 13th century. At the beginning of the 15th century, the settlement is referred to as Nová Ves; the current title has been used since 1911. As to the area of vineyards and the number of registered winegrowers, the village ranks second among wine villages of the Podluží region. ‘Vinohrádky’ is the name of the original vine field that no longer exists. The best wine mountain is considered to be a south-eastern hillside on the banks of the river Kyjovka called Stará Hora. There is evidence of an ancient settlement in this locality. At the beginning of the last century, during re-layering of the vineyard soil, a stone statue of a lion from the Roman era was dug up here. The vine fields, just like in other local vine tracks such as ‘Padělky od Vody’ and ‘Čtvrtě od Hrušek’, used to be planted primarily with early varieties: Lemberger  and white ‘Chrupka’ (a local variety). But following the destruction of the old vineyards by phylloxera, the vineyards in Moravská Nová Ves have, since 1908, been grafted on an American rootstock and the vine range has been expanded.     

The distinctive hand of “Friday men”

In addition to the living viticultural presence, ancient history is evidenced in the cellars and cellar lanes. A wine trail through the region of Podluží coming from Hrušky will take you through vineyards to the edge of the settlement, with a resting place that has an information table. Turn right and, after a short downhill ride alongside a railway track, you’ll find yourself in the viticulture centre of the village. The cellar colonies of Výmol, Zátiší and U Trati make a golden cross out of the local wine makers' community. The oldest of them, ‘U Trati lane’, was divided into two halves by a railway track constructed there in the 1840s. There you'll find not only a parish cellar, where the tithes collected were stored, but also the cellar of the best known wine maker of Moravská Nová Ves and the father of the variety Cabernet Moravia, Mr Lubomír Glos. The highly knowledgeable narrative of the doyen of the local wine makers details an almost quarter-century pilgrimage, from the first attempts at crossing the Cabernet Franc and Zweigeltrebe varieties to the entry of Cabernet Moravia in the State Register of Grape Varieties. It ends with the following words: “Viticulture primarily means humility, watching nature and passing on experience from generation to generation.” “And monitoring the activity of bacteria,” he adds in a dry tone. Mr Glos participated in the birth of the association Collegium Vinitorum formed by winegrowers from Moravská Nová Ves and neighbouring Mikulčice. ‘The Friday men’, as they are called by the locals, met for the first time in Autumn of 1968 and, since they were mostly people whose attitude to the socialist regime was not positive, they also had to face allegations that they were a resistance group disagreeing with the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the armies of the Warsaw pact.  Painter, journalist and wine taster Milan Magni wrote the following about wines from the community of his friends and excellent wine makers: “I really can’t remember ever tasting a sample under the auspices of Collegium Vinitorum that would not be first rate as to technological handling (that went without saying) and that would not bear the stamp of a unique origin and a distinctive hand.”   

How economic crisis contributed to viticulture in Moravská Nová Ves

The origin of two colonies in the neighbourhood is interesting. Single-storey and two-storey pressing houses of red brick in the colonies in Výmol and in Zátiší owe their establishment to the economic crisis raging in the 1930s. The owner of two local brickworks, whose sales had dropped, used his own bricks to construct cellars and pressing houses on plots of land which he purchased and then sold to the local wine makers. The original cellars without pressing houses, those typical for the ‘U Trati’ colony in the past, are hardly to be found in these new colonies. Most cellars are topped with a single-storey pressing house and a semi-floor, which in the case of old cellars was used for storing hay. Nowadays this space is commonly used as a sitting room for sessions and social meetings.  These ‘búdas’ turn toward the street with their sloping roofs and make up a continuous row divided by arched entrances and windows to the left of the entrance. Cellars in Lipová street are lost between houses, but still they are among the oldest in the settlement. The ‘U Myslivny’ cellar colony is interesting from a tourist viewpoint. Its centre is formed by the cellar of Ivana Tomanová, offering wine tasting, a place to sit over a glass of wine and accommodation. An excellent restaurant is located in the neighbourhood of the complex.