Go to Czechs
Moravia Region
By Allan Kissam
I
n this last of three articles about the Czech
Republic (see Prague, then Kutna Hora trips),
we move on from Brno’s top-tier comforts to
the south Moravia wine region of Czech
Republic. The picturesque countryside becomes
smaller villages built around agriculture. The
region is a favorite of neighboring peoples’ of
Europe for hiking and bicycling through old
vineyards and chateau with cellars dating back
to the 13th century.
pavilions to use in hunting, winemaking, and
other activities. The area is near Austria, and
Vienna is close to one hour by car.
Accommodations are all medium priced,
typically with excellent food services in
the hotel. Several hotels in the area include
spa with wine treatment facials for the ladies.
There are hotels associated with a popular
winery (Hotel Marcincak and Winery
Marcincak), good locations for venturing out
on foot or bicycle (Kravi Hora), and full
Registered here are two World Heritage
UNESCO sites, the Palava Landscape Protected services including meeting space (Hotel
Galant). Historic Valtice is the location of the
Area and the Lednice-Valtice Landscape
chateau built by the family Liechtenstein.
Complex. This latter area is the Garden of
Europe because of the landscaping and much of Tours of chateau in the area are worthwhile to
it can be seen on day trips out of the town of see fine period decorations and even original
serving china. In the particular instance of
Mikulov.
Valtice Chateau, the Czech National Wine
Center (located in the chateau cellars) offers
The touring can focus on man-made
the unique opportunity to taste wines from all
landscaping of a massive scale conducted in
the 18th through 19th centuries (by the family of the regions in one visit. Included is
information on the special soils, climate, and
Liechtenstein). A series of ponds created
grape varietals at each winery or vineyard
produced a riparian-forested area that teems
area. This wine center is also known as the
with wildlife. Having built a huge playground,
‘salon’, so don’t be confused. Wines from
the wealthy of the era built chateau and
20
Winery Sonberk provide an optimal location to
taste the Palava area wines and view the
rolling hills that display unusual beauty.
Following tasting in the morning, consider
tasting authentic local food at Café Fara in
Palava, which also provides lodging.
It is difficult to be in Czech Republic and ignore
the excellent beers. Wine tasting is to enjoy an
art form, but so is beer, and here is where to
go for beer production, lunch, and lodging. In
Cerna Hora is the Cerna Hora Brewery and
Hotel Sladovna. If REALLY into beer, enjoy
the therapeutics of taking a beer bath in
the hotel spa.
What is there left to do in southern Moravia?
If unsatisfied after taking a beer bath, touring
castles, sampling wines in cellars going back to
the Middle Ages, and walking through the
gardens of the Lichtenstein family – ask
yourself where all the wild boar used in Czech
traditional cooking comes from. So, take off to
the hills for wild boar hunting. The wild boar
are dangerous, have sharp tusks, and weigh up
to 600 pounds. They forage in the farmers’