Wine in Southern Slovakia and the Nitra Region

Southern Slovak and Nitra wine regions

The most high-profile winemaker in the Southern Slovak region is Château Belá, a former manor house and now luxury hotel where German winemaker Egon Müller – famed for his Mosel estate – and celebrated Slovak winemaker Miroslav Petrech have been cooperating since 2001 to produce fine Rieslings and Cabernet Sauvignons. 

Southern Slovakia is the prime growing area for the country's red wines. Among the red wine varieties that are unique to Slovakia, wine taster Gabriela Rizikyová recommends trying Nitria, Hron and Váh.

The dominant label in the Nitra sub-region, and perhaps the biggest in Slovakia, is Château Topoľčianky, which produces almost every variety of Slovak wine in around 7 million bottles a year: a modest quantity by world standards, but huge for Slovakia. Château Topoľčianky is named after the former summer residence of Czechoslovak President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, a Renaissance manor house that is open to visitors.