Vinobraní (Grape Harvest Festival)

The Czech Republic is a country with a large production of very fine wine. Primarily the Southern Moravian wine region is well known worldwide for its Modrý Portugal, Frankovka, Müller Thurgau and other brands.

Vinobraní, grape harvest festivals, take place across the Czech Republic in wine regions of Moravia, especially in towns of Znojmo and Mikulov, but also in Bohemia – in Prague, Mĕlník and other wine regions in September.  As the end of August approaches, vinters grow edgy with anticipation. After months of waiting, the time has come to pick and prune the voluptuous clusters of succulent grapes. While the vinters worry about the first indications of the quality and volume of the harvest, villages in wine regions are overcome with more frivolous emotion.  Inhabitants become lively, festive, this is the time of vinobrani!!  The celebration kicks off the harvest season.

All vinobraní festivals involve the drinking of young and stormy wine “burčák”. Only the vinter, his family and close friends are allowed into the vinny sklep (wine cellar) during the mysterious build-up to burčák season. Those on hand usually down a good liter of the juicy stuff once the thumbs-up is given.  Regardless of which grape is used to produce burčák, the alcohol content is usually 5%, as compared with the full wines normal of 11 to 12%. But there’s a catch. Burčák continues to ferment inside the body. After three to four hours of drinking, its strength matches that of full wines. If you don’t watch out, you might not be so happy a couple hours later when you are quite tipsy and with a nasty headache.

While the event has recently grown in popularity, locals shrug their shoulders when asked about the official date of the first vinobraní. Most suspect that some type of grape harvest celebration dates back to Roman times, when winemaking was introduced to Czech lands. For years winemaking celebrations continued only in rich circles. In the more recent past these festivals were introduced to the general population of Bohemia and Moravia after the Second World War in late 1940s.

Historical traditions are still well kept especially in Moravia where you can enjoy parades of medieval and Renaissance costume re-enactors, traditional markets with craftwork, shows and medieval pageantry and music, and of course lots of food. These festivities attract about 50,000 visitors to the region annually.