Red Wines

Let’s pause for a moment today. Not at a red light, but to talk about reds—our reds. Long gone are the days when our quality wines were synonymous with white wines. Times change, the weather changes; at our winery, we take the best from our ancestors while also keeping up with the times and using the best technologies. So it’s no wonder that our reds are not only winning medals but, more importantly, capturing your attention. Our unique Merlot, made from hand-selected berries, is proof in a bottle, and we’ll introduce it to you at the end. 

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A Bit of History

The history of our winery begins in the turbulent 1940s, when our grandfather, Ludovit Baláž, began working in his vineyards and producing his first wines. Hopes for the winery’s development in the postwar period were dashed by forced collectivization and nationalization. In our family, wine production and sales continued at home virtually without interruption, but the winery did not truly begin to develop until after 1989. We founded the winery as you know it today in 1995. We realized that we could not do without our own vineyards. The experience of our grandparents was a great help to us here; without their significant contribution, we would not have embarked on the planting. Their knowledge of the land and the wisdom gained through daily work are a gift from which we, as a family winery, continue to draw. Frankovka was our first red variety, which we planted ourselves in 2002. Thanks to this, we now have very high-quality grapes from a 22-year-old one-hectare vineyard. Similarly, for the elegant Rulandské modré, we have a half-hectare, 21-year-old vineyard that regularly produces grapes of selection quality. In 2023, we harvested the first vintage from our own Merlot planting. Our Nativa is unique in that it was planted by our grandfather at a time when this now-trendy interspecific variety had not yet been registered in the variety registry. The quarter-hectare vineyard yields beautiful, fruity Cabernet-style wines with vibrant colors.

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Nativa

You have a unique opportunity to taste it from a 20-year-old vineyard.

Nativa (formerly known as Kaberon) is a late-ripening, interspecific (also known as PiWi or “resistant”) wine grape variety intended for the production of red wines. The variety was bred by the Resistant Velké Bílovice breeding team under the leadership of Prof. Vilém Kraus, a legend in Czech viticulture, and was entered into the State Variety Register in 2010.  

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Class of 2022

We currently have red wines from the 2022 vintage available for sale. It was primarily a dry and warm vintage. Precipitation was relatively low during the growing season, so the vines were spared from fungal diseases. The grapes were healthy, with higher sugar content and lower acidity. An ideal vintage for red grape varieties. So exceptional, in fact, that the Merlot ripened to the point where we were able to select individual berries.

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A Unique Merlot

Thanks to perfectly ripened grapes, we are able to offer you this delicacy. In this half-liter bottle, you’ll find a semi-sweet Merlot that has been aged until the grapes were hand-selected. Velvety, with notes of plum jam, milk chocolate, and exotic spices, it will enchant you or make the perfect gift.

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The Tannowitz Series

The Tannowitz line is our premier wine series, featuring wines from the finest vineyards and terroirs. We produce wines for this line only in the best vintages, so it’s no surprise that we’re now offering you a 2022 Merlot and Pinot Noir from this very line.  

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Whether you choose our classic Frankovka or our Merlot and Blue Ruland from any of our lines, we’re pleased to offer you red wines made from high-quality, fully ripened grapes. We’re confident you’ll enjoy them.

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