Nový Šaldorf-Sedlešovice - Vineyards made famous by the Premonstratensians of Znojmo

It takes about 15 minutes of cycling to get from the start of the Moravian wine trail, which is at Komenský square in Znojmo, to the first cellars of the famous wine settlement – the entire journey, you are riding through a housing development. The gateway to Nový Šaldorf-Sedlešovice is a bridge on the River Dyje, whose three fords stood at the beginning of the foundation of this settlement. The old title of this small town was Starý Šaldorf (Old Šaldorf). The current name comes from the local settlements that came into existence as late as the 16th century. As for cultural monuments, there is a late Gothic column erected in Sedlešovice to commemorate huge floods in the settlement at that time. The area of vineyards of these two merged villages amounts to 200 hectares, and aromatic white grapes are most common here. Vineyards can be found in fields Nad Sklepy and Na Dolině; the best location for vines with the best subbase is the mountain of Kraví Hora, renowned especially for the unmistakable taste and smell of the local Sauvignon. But also local White Riesling and Grüner Veltliner are likely to be of excellent quality. The first vineyards in the region were founded by Roman legions; viticulture here experienced a great boom at the time of the Great Moravian Empire. In relation to the mission of St Cyril and Methodius and the need for wine for liturgical purposes, some monastic communities took charge of the planting of vineyards – the first to mention this region are Premonstratensians, who founded a monastery in Louka u Znojma in 1190. The tradition of viticulture in this locality was later developed and cultivated by the German population, who settled in the region at the time of the Přemyslide colonization of the territory. The forced displacement of original settlers following World War II meant not only interruption of viticulture development in the region, but also the effacement of old traditions and customs that had been in place here for centuries.  The quality and significance of viticulture in the settlement before the war can be estimated only on the basis of the number and size of local wine cellars and through the centuries-old reputation of the Kuhberg vineyard.  New settlers coming mainly from the northern sections of the country (Moravian Walachia) had no experience with viticulture and could hardly develop the work of previous generations. Before 1989, there were only a few small vintners in the village, who produced wine for their own consumption. The only official producer of wine was the local state-owned farm, whose successes at countrywide exhibitions of wine established the excellent repute of Modré Sklepy (the colony Blue Cellars) and of local wines. Today, the company Agrodružstvo Nový Šaldorf, which owns a cellar in Modré Sklepy and a wine outlet in the wine cellar lane, is only one of many wine firms that confirm the great reputation of local wines. Since the beginning of the 1990s, about ten family wine farms have come into existence, some of them continuing the tradition of their ancestors disrupted by the communist putsch. In 2003, the local vintners set up the wine corporation Cech vinařů Nový Šaldorf-Sedlešovice and you can taste their production in the corporate cellar at n. 20, called U Nápravů. 

Modré Sklepy (Blue Cellars)

The centre of this wine colony, located on both sides of the southbound trail, is a historic beam press from the 18th century. The complex of ‘blue’ cellars is one of the greatest in the sub-region of Znojmo: more than 180 wine buildings cover an area of 9 hectares and create a cellar square 800 metres long. The explanation for the name of this protected monuments area is hidden under ground. The cellars were dug out in the subbase consisting of sandstone with layers of bluish-grey clay, which gives the impression it is a blue decoration in the cellars’ interiors. The technology used for digging these cellars is specific too: they were gradually extended in width and length. In addition to the ‘blue’ cellars, there are also buildings in this locality made of brick. In Nový Šaldorf there are coupled pressing houses, which means that two pressing houses are joined but each still has its own entrance, cellar and press. Only the roof is shared. In this way, some construction material was saved (or the current owners think so at least). The coupled pressing houses are, as a rule, in the possession of related families. The most common ownership is father and son. Single-storey pressing houses, mostly oriented towards the street by a sloping roof, are mostly constructed of brick – only the oldest were stone and adobe.  Colourful plasters are usually smooth; a typical combination for cellar constructions in the region is coarse-grained plasters with smooth, colourful jambs around entrances and windows. The ground section is separated by colourful strips from the gable field with small aeration holes and a wooden gate leading to the loft. The older, historically and architecturally more valuable pressing houses are to the right of the complex. New wine constructions to the left of the road offer more comfort and often also accommodation and catering. The association Spolek Přátel Hroznové Kozy (Friends Of the Grape Goat) strive to renovate original viticulture constructions. This club of friends of viticulture and history draws on their lives of pre-war inhabitants of the village and in co-operation with local vintners tries to revive customs and rituals related especially to the character of Grape goat.             

Carol of vineyards watchmen (Epiphany)

Competitive exhibition of local wines (Easter Sunday)

Tasting on the occasion of the cycling competition of Znovincup (beginning of July)

Locking of the mountain (beginning of September)

Wenceslas’ feast (on the day of St Wenceslas)

Arrival of St Martin and tasting of young wines (Saturday after the holiday of St Martin)