Day of Open Cellars in Small Carpathian Wine Region (source: Jana Liptáková)
Wine tastes the best in the place it's produced, winemakers often say. To give wine lovers the best possible experience, wine producers of the Small Carpathian Wine Route will open their cellars to celebrate St Urban, the patron saint of winegrowers, this Friday and Saturday, May 21 and 22.
Open Cellars on St Urban Day
May 21, 14:00 - 20:00
May 22, 12:00 - 20:00
ticket costs €40 and includes a glass, a map of open cellars and a €20 voucher for the purchase of wine
it is possible to visit the cellars without a ticket; visitors can pay for wine tasting on the spot
the list of open cellars is on www.mvc.sk, but only in Slovak
112 historical and modern cellars will be open during the 14th edition of the Open Cellars on St Urban Day in Bratislava’s boroughs of Devín, Rača and Vajnory as well as in the traditional wine-making towns and villages of Svätý Jur, Pezinok, Modra, Šenkvice and Doľany. The wine producers will offer wines made from last year’s harvest as well as their vintage wines at this wine tasting event.112 historical and modern cellars will be open during the 14th edition of the Open Cellars on St Urban Day in Bratislava’s boroughs of Devín, Rača and Vajnory as well as in the traditional wine-making towns and villages of Svätý Jur, Pezinok, Modra, Šenkvice and Doľany. The wine producers will offer wines made from last year’s harvest as well as their vintage wines at this wine tasting event.
Wine makes have cellars full of wine
In 2020, consumption of wine in Slovakia fell by 13 percent. One of the reasons was the pandemic and closed restaurants, pubs, hotels and other outlets within the hospitality sector. This confirms drinking wine is a social event, noted Jaroslava Kaňuchová Pátková, executive director of the Association of Winegrowers and Winemakers of Slovakia (ZVVS) for the SITA newswire, adding that the pandemic has been a major problem for winegrowers and winemakers not only in Slovakia.
Wine producers re-directed their sales channels and increased profits through retail chains. At the same time, however, the selling price of Slovak wine decreased significantly, down to €2.89 without VAT, which is a 10-percent decrease. The average price of foreign wines sold in retail chains fell to €2.52 excluding VAT. Foreign wines are long-term competition for Slovak winemakers as a result.
The pandemic has affected the purchasing power of customers, too, making the situation of Slovak winemakers alarming because their wine stocks are very high. Some wineries plan to produce lower volumes of wine this year due to full cellars.
