The cellar for maturing red wines, built in 2010 with a capacity of 220,000 litres.
Local winemakers say Slovakia is like a front garden for wine compared to countries like France, Italy or Spain. Vineyard acreage in Slovakia is tiny compared to these major wine-producing states – for instance, while in Spain there are 1.1 million hectares of registered vineyards, Slovakia has only 22,500, and of these less than half are cultivated.
Because of this, Slovak wine makers say the only way they can establish themselves on the global wine market is to focus on quality.
“Slovakia’s path in winemaking must be towards quality, not quantity,” says Jozef Stanko, nephew of Peter Stanko, the co-founder of the acclaimed winery Mrva & Stanko in Trnava.
Stanko, who has now joined his uncle’s company and is in charge of its wine tastings, among other roles, adds that this approach is already bearing fruit for those who have adopted it.
“When foreign wine lovers come here, see our wineries, cellars and taste our wines, they are often positively surprised,” says Stanko.
History of Mrva & Stanko
Vladimír Mrva was inspired by his grandfather, a winemaker himself, to study winemaking, first in Modra and later at Mendel University in Brno and Lednice in the Czech Republic.
After finishing his studies, he worked for three years as a wine technician in the Höpler Burgenland winery near Neusiedler Lake in Austria before returning to Slovakia where he began work with Peter Stanko, who at the time owned a company selling promotional items. In 1997, the Mrva & Stanko brand was born.
