Small Carpatian wine-growing area (area: c. 5 470,1ha/13 511acres)
This area is historically the oldest and the largest of all. The vineyards stretch from Bratislava to Pezinok, which is one of the centers of the winegrowing region and continue to Modra ending by Trnava. In the western part around town Skalica are situated small vineyards. The altitude here is about 145 - 260 AMSL. The annual rainfall is about 670 mm (26.3inches) and the average temperature during the growing season is about 16,8 °C. The light skeletal soils absorb the sun heat which helps to mild the colder nights during September and October. There are around 120 villages were wine is being produced. The vineyards are located at the Little Carpathian hills coming down to the Pannonia plain. The main produced white wines are mainly Rielsings - Rheinriesling and also Welshriesling, Grüner Veltliner, Silvaner but also Pinot blanc , Müller-Thurgau and Chardonnay. The red varieties are represented by Blaufränkisch, St. Laurent and in smaller volumes of Blauer portugieser.
The annual Day of Open Wine Cellars allows thousands of enthusiastic wine lovers from as far afield as Bohemia, Moravia, other parts of Slovakia, and even more distant countries, to each year taste the fruits of the Small Carpathian wine harvest. The constantly increasing number of cellars provides new opportunities every year for regular participants who had thought they knew all the wines, all the winemakers, and all the wine cellars. But this is not so, because each year additional ancient vaulted cellars are being opened, along with beautiful new modern cellars and tasting rooms, the like of which you would be hard-pressed to find elsewhere in Slovakia, or indeed anywhere else in the world. What most attracts visitors to this, the most famous wine event in Slovakia, is its atmosphere. Adding the greatest allure to the tasting experience are the cellars: in their dark candlelit recesses, brick or stone arches painted with mould, drinking wine is a true sensation. This is an experience which you cannot buy in any wineshop; the only way to achieve it is to come back every year to the Small Carpathian Wine Route.
For more information click here
For offer of accomodation click here