Vino Masarik Wine Story
Our winery hosted a TV show
V karavanu po česku
History
The story of the Vino Masarik winery was indirectly started by my grandfather Václav Křivánek (1927 – 2009), one of the main vine breeders in Czechoslovakia. He was born in Velké Bílovice. However, he spent his childhood and youth in the small village of Narta near Bjelovar (today’s Croatia). Our lifeways symbolically crossed already in his childhood, because the part of the village of Narta, in which he grew up, is called Blatnica! During the Second World War he became a partisan and was wounded. After the war he left back to Czechoslovakia and in 1951 he completed his studies at the University of Agriculture in Brno under the guidance of doc. Blaha.
My grandfather indelibly enrolled in history in the Czech and Slovak Republic, mainly by breeding the Moravian Muscat variety. His other cultivated grape varieties are Florianka and Sevar, table varieties Pola, Amos, Olšava, Vitra and more than 100 clones of vine.
My grandfather is undeniably a corner stone of our winery. He taught us to love our work and humbly approach every day in the vineyard and the cellar. He often spoke about need to work even more in case of any crisis. He will always be the greatest inspiration for us.
The most important person of the current winery is my father Vojtěch Masařík. He made his first wine at the age of 12 and fell in love with viticulture. So far, it has been his biggest lifelong hobby. He has never been making living out of wine (his profession is expert witness, civil engineer, economist and geologist), but with natural intellect, diligence, carefulness and amazing sensory memory he gradually became a respected taster and winemaker in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
My father had a unique opportunity to draw inspiration from my grandfather’s amazing knowledge and he often recalls the wine-inspired evenings. And now me, Radim Masařík, have the opportunity to listen to my father and thanks to him also to my grandfather. It really is unique and I appreciate it.
Wine was, is and will always be a matter of heart for our family!
Winery
Our boutique winery Vino Masarik is located in Blatnice pod Svatým Antonínkem. Overall, we produce about 15,000 bottles per year, 90% of the grapes are directly from Blatnice. Our vineyard is located in the Floriánky, Stará Hora and Kamenice tracks. We buy also a part of the grapes from a neighbouring winemaker. The main varieties include Florianka, Riesling, Pinot blanc, Pinot gris, Pinot noir and Sylvaner.
The wine from the Vino Masarik is a small batch, unmistakable and always different! We do not use enzymes, vitamins, artificial tannins and other additives. Except the Fresh line, we use only our own autochthonous yeast from the old Blatnice vineyard. The Spirit line ferments spontaneously. Most of our wines are made with lees stirring, then the wine matures for at least 5 months on fine yeast sludge, Iconic line for 1 year. We use stainless steel vessels and acacia and barrique barrels.
Terroir
Blatnice pod Sv. Antonínek is located in the Slovácko sub-region on the westernmost tip of the White Carpathians. It is a terroir with heavy clay soils and sandstones. Southern slopes, minimum rainfall and the so-called “Halné větry” (warm winds) from the Slovak White Carpathians have always been of exceptional quality. Since the time of Charles IV, Blatnice has been dubbed “Moravian Burgundy”. The aim of our winery is to prove that it is not nicknamed only because of the varietal composition in the vineyards.
Florianka Unique
Variety bred by my grandfather Václav Křivánek, registered in the State Varietal Book in 2010. Cross of Veltliner Frührot and Müller Thurgau. An early variety that matures to high sugars every year with higher acidity. It is very susceptible to attack by Botrytis cinerea.
Our winery is the owner of this variety and its own maintenance vineyard. We also sell seedlings every year.
In the Vino Masarik winery you have the unique opportunity to taste Florianka unique, the wine from the maintenance vineyard of this variety and thus the oldest vineyard in the world planted in 1989.