Plenty of vineyards in Bratislava are abandoned. (source: Jana Liptáková)
Grape growing and wine production have a long tradition in the Slovak capital. The Bratislava city council wants to ensure it survives in the future. Therefore, it has announced a transparent competition to select new tenants for the city’s vineyards. They should come from a group of local winegrowers and winemakers or local communities and initiatives.
Eight hectares of the city’s vineyards are currently unleased and often neglected. The city council wants to change this and revive its original function. Therefore, at the end of November, it launched a competition for its lease.
“The main goal of the competition is to be a good manager and not to let the vineyards decay, but to make them accessible to honest local winegrowers and community initiatives in an open and transparent competition,” said Klaudia Lušpaiová from the leasing department at the city council, as cited in the press release.
The city council wants to find new tenants for vineyards in the boroughs of Nové Mesto, in the Vinohrady area, and in Rača. Individual proposals will be assessed according to the published competition criteria. The viticultural aspect will be evaluated, i.e. how the proposal contributes to the local economy and how it builds on local traditions. The conditions of the competition are designed to motivate those interested to take into account the organic cultivation of vineyards, support biodiversity, and the use of sites for recreation. This will allow residents to learn more about the authentic craft and local traditions.
Those interested must send their proposals by January 14, 2022. The winners will be announced in early February.
