Moravian Wine Cellar Street

In Petrov-Plze, 80 cellars built from the 15th century are painted white with ultramarine blue bases in uniform Baroque arch style — like one obsessive architect got loose. The Czech government made the whole thing a National Monument. When the door is open, you're welcome. Knock, sit, taste for 20-50 CZK a glass — sometimes nothing. In Vrbice, the cellars go seven floors DOWN into sandstone, with Gothic arches cut from living rock. Burčák — Czech Federweißer — is sold with the cap loose because a sealed bottle would explode. Available August to October only.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Walk Into the Blue — Find Petrov-Plže Folk Architecture Preserve History · Free

   Where: Petrov-Plže cellar complex, 4 km southeast of Strážnice on the Hodonín road. Park at the village edge and walk in on foot — the lane reveals itself gradually as you approach from the north side.

   What: Eighty wine cellars carved into soft yellow clay hillsides since the 15th century. The architectural trick that makes this place unlike anything else in Moravia: from the 16th century, every cellar was built in a single uniform style — Baroque curved arches over oak doors, white limestone facades — and every single one was painted in a shade of vivid blue that you will not find used this way anywhere else on earth. The 1983 Folk Architecture Preserve declaration says as much officially. The blue isn't decorative whim: it was a shared identity, a statement that this lane belonged to a community of wine families, not landowners or nobles.

   How: Start at the small chapel of the Virgin Mary Bolestná at the entrance to the complex — it marks the threshold. Walk the full length of both lanes slowly. Count the oak doors. Notice that each arch is slightly different (hand-carved) but the proportions are identical. The cellars were built by the winemakers themselves, not by architects. In summer months, several doors will be standing open — this is your invitation.

   Backup: If you can't reach Petrov-Plže, the blue-and-white cellar tradition continues in Šatov (the Painted Cellar, South Moravia tourist site) — same folk tradition, different village.

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2. 2 Knock on a Stranger's Cellar Door and Accept Whatever Comes Adventure · Price: low

   Where: Any cellar lane in the village — Petrov-Plže, Vrbice, Bořetice, or Velké Bílovice. Look for an open door, a barrel pushed outside, folding chairs, or chalk writing on the facade.

   What: This is not a wine bar. There is no menu, no booking system, no hospitality training. It is a family's private space where they have been making wine for generations — sometimes the same vines their grandparents reclaimed after 1989 when the Communist cooperatives finally gave the land back. The tradition is called "otevřené sklepy" — open cellars. When the door is open, you are welcome. Walk in, say "Dobrý den" (good day) and point at the barrel, and someone will hand you a glass of something they made. It will cost between 20–50 CZK (€1-2) per glass, sometimes nothing at all.

   How: Look for Welschriesling first — it's the cellar workhorse, pale gold, crisp apple and quince, light enough to drink three glasses without noticing until you try to walk. Then ask for Pálava: a grape that exists only in Moravia, bred in 1953 by crossing Gewürztraminer with Müller-Thurgau. It smells of tropical fruit and roses. Even Master of Wine-level tasters have been fooled by its bouquet. It's officially recognized since 1977 and still largely unknown outside this region.

   Backup: If all doors are closed (weekday off-season), head to Velké Bílovice. With 650+ privately owned cellars across 37 named streets, someone is always open. In April, the annual "Ze sklepa do sklepa" (From Cellar to Cellar) event opens 50+ cellars simultaneously with one ticket.

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3. 3 Cross the Border Into the Independent Republic of Kraví Hora Adventure · Price: low

   Where: Bořetice wine cellar colony, Pod Kraví horou, approximately 500m northwest of the village of Bořetice (Břeclav District). Follow signs toward Kraví hora from the village center.

   What: On November 12, 2000, the local wine growers of Bořetice declared themselves the Free Federal Republic of Kraví hora. They wrote a constitution, elected a president, composed a national anthem, issued their own passports, printed their own stamps, and minted their own currency. Wine is the reason for all of it. There are 260 wine cellars here across two main lanes — Horní Frejd and Dolní Frejd — stacked one above the other against the hillside, the first records of wine growing here dating to 1355. At the border of the republic you can get your passport stamped. In the republic's square (Vinckovo náměstí), a chapel to St. Urban — the patron saint of wine growers — was consecrated in 2003.

   How: Approach the cellar colony from the village side and look for the republic's "border" — a checkpoint sign where you show your real-world passport or any ID to get the republic's novelty stamp. Buy a bottle using whatever they're using as currency that day (ask the cellar owners — it changes). Climb to the Kraví Hora wooden lookout tower at the end of the cellar lane: 65 stairs, 12 meters, 272 meters altitude. On a clear day you can see Slovakia and Austria. You are drinking wine grown in the oldest recorded vineyard in the village (1355) while looking at three countries.

   Backup: If the republic's "officials" aren't at their post, the cellar colony itself is always open to walk freely. The tower is the destination regardless.

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4. 4 Descend Into the Sandstone City — Vrbice's Seven-Floor Cellar Colony Wine · Price: moderate

   Where: Cellar Colony Pod Strážním vrchem (Under the Guard Hill), Vrbice village, Břeclav District — approximately 48.9151°N, 16.8978°E. Walk uphill from the village center toward the hillside; the Gothic-arched entrances appear carved directly into the rock face.

   What: This is unlike any other cellar street in Moravia. Where Petrov-Plže was built above ground using clay and vaults, Vrbice was carved INTO the sandstone hillside — seven floors of wine cellars stacked on top of each other, each floor with its own name, each entrance framed with a Gothic arch cut from the living rock. The cellars were dug in the 18th and 19th centuries. The oldest colony on the lower slopes dates from the second half of the 17th century. The village of 1,000 people has been a Moravian wine leader for centuries, ideal for Neuburg (Grüner Veltliner), Traminer, and Welschriesling.

   How: Book the archive cellar tasting in advance (groups up to 15) — ask for the three-variety tasting of Neuburg, Traminer, and Welschriesling poured direct from barrel. If you can't pre-book, walk all seven floors first — each "street" level has a different name and a slightly different character. The topmost level is the oldest; the stone is darker and the temperature drops noticeably. Taste the Traminer here: you're standing in the hillside that grew it.

   Backup: Even without the formal tasting, the walk through the seven floors is free and extraordinary. Some individual cellar owners post tasting invitations on their doors — look for handwritten signs or open doors.

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5. 5 Drink Burčák Before It Explodes — September Harvest Season Ritual Wine · Price: low · Optional

   Where: Any open cellar, market stall, or roadside stand in South Moravia during late August through October. Burčák appears at cellar doors, vinobraní (harvest festivals), and village squares — often poured from a plastic tank or bottle with a loose cap.

   What: Burčák is the only wine in the world that the EU legally protects as a Czech regional product. It is partially fermented — still mid-transformation between grape juice and wine, alcoholic (5-8%) but tasting like the fizziest, sweetest apple cider you've ever had. It's cloudy, pale yellow, and actively alive. Here's the thing: you cannot tighten the cap on a bottle of burčák or it will explode. You cannot refrigerate it or the fermentation stops and the wine dies. You have to drink it within days of buying it. The Moravians have a saying: "Září – víno vaří, říjen – víno pijem." September: the wine is cooking. October: we drink. When you drink burčák standing outside a cellar door in September, you are drinking a wine that is still becoming itself — the most honest glass in any cellar street.

   How: Ask for burčák by name. Price is typically 80–90 CZK per liter (€3–4). Buy it in a 1L bottle with a loose (not tightened) cap. Pair it with bread and lard and a pickled cucumber — the local fat-and-acid combination that cuts through the sweetness perfectly. If the host offers slivovitz (plum brandy) after, it means you stayed long enough to be considered a friend.

   Backup: Outside harvest season (November–July), ask for a fresh Welschriesling — the cellar equivalent, light and honest, 20–40 CZK per glass. The ritual is the same; only the wine is finished.

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