THE ZNOJMO WINE SUB-REGION

The Znojmo sub-region is one of the four Moravian wine sub-regions. Znojmo is situated in the rain shadow of the Bohemia-Moravian Highland formation, whose many extremities, mainly in the northern part, have given rise to stony soil, excellent for the cultivation of Ryzlink Rýnský, Veltlínské zelené and even, in the area around Dolní Kounice, for black varieties, such as Frankovka.

The town of Znojmo was always prominent as a wine centre and a labyrinth of long underground passages for use as wine cellars lies directly under the town. Near the town several first-class grape-growing locations stretch from Kraví Hora in the direction of Hnánice, where gravel subsoil is interspersed with loess, sometimes even with clay. From Znojmo to the south a series of vineyards extends towards the Austrian border through Šatov, Chvalovice, Vrbovec, Hnízdo, Slup and Jaroslavice, all the way up to Hrušovany nad Jevišovkou, which have mainly loess and loamy soils. To the east along the river Dyje (Thaya) lie the vine slopes of Tasovice and Hodonice, most of which have loess or gravel soils. In the central part of the Znojmo sub-region there are several distinctive wine entities in Únanovice and Jevišovice with their well-respected wine communes of Těšetice, Lechovice and Borotice. The large vineyard plantings in the area surrounding Hostěradice and Miroslav are known for their Volná Pole and Weinperky locations. In general, Znojmo is a region of white aromatic wines, where, other than the main variety Veltlínské zelené, Müller-Thurgau, Sauvignon, Ryzling rýnský and Pálava all excel. The Pinot varieties, Rulandské bílé, Rulandské šedé and Rulandské modré, are also of notable quality.

Autor: Vilém Kraus