Rich tradition, silky Pinot Noir and excellent organic wines from the Moravia wine region

The Krásná Horá (‘Beautiful Mountain’) vineyards are located in the historic wine village of Starý Poddvorov. The winery is situated on the 49th parallel (just like Alsace and Burgundy) at the very limit of where grapes can be grown in Central Europe, in the south-eastern corner of the Czech Republic.

They grow traditional French varieties – Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Merlot along with a few other varieties. The Pinot Noir grape has a tendency to thrive in cold, variable climates like, and it is naturally suited to the Moravia wine region where it enjoys a long and cool growing season.

In the vineyard

Krásná Horá winery farms 8.5 hectares of vineyards in organic mode, carefully tended by hand and biodynamic principles are implemented to produce grapes of the highest possible quality expressing the terroir. They employ biodynamic techniques of applying cow horn manure and cow horn silica to the vines, and also add compost which consists of local animal manure and the recycled marc of pressed grape skins from the previous vintage.

Krásná Horá vineyards enjoy a location rich in biodiversity. The use of herbal teas and specially prepared composts and manures enable them to avoid using any synthetic herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers. Yields are carefully controlled to around 1.3 kg/vine in order to achieve the intensity and concentration of desired aromas and flavors.

Winemaking philosophy

Only physiologically ripe grapes are harvested, which means ripe tannins, moderate sugar concentration and balanced acidity. Picking is done by hand into small buckets where they are quickly transported to the winery, which adjoins the vineyard. The grapes are carefully hand sorted and then processed with absolutely minimal handling.

Krásná Horá top Barrel Select white wines are both barrel fermented using native wild yeasts and barrel matured. The wines lie on fine lees, which not only add complexity and a creamy texture to the wines, but also help protect against the damaging effects of oxygen. The wines receive much smaller additions of the sulfur dioxide than what is usual. Their ‘classic’ range of wines also sees some ageing in large oak casks, which add minimal oak influence, while providing ideal conditions for the wines to slowly become clear and stable.

The top red wines also undergo a fermentation using natural wild yeast, followed by an extended period of barrel ageing before going to bottle unfined and unfiltered. This sophisticated artisanal approach helps to retain all the natural aromas and flavors they have worked so hard to achieve during the growing and maturing of these wines.

Uniqueness

The cool climate viticulture includes the large differences between day and night time temperatures, helping to produce grapes of outstanding aromatic intensity and expression along with mouth-watering acidity and freshness. Instead of synthetic agrochemical sprays they employ a range of organic and biodynamic techniques to grow their beloved grapes sustainably and with the smallest ecological footprint possible.

Their passion and dedication to creating modern beauty translates directly into their natural wines. Krásná hora won Czech Winery of the Year at the 2018 New York International Wine Competition.