SLOBODNE VINARSTVO

The Slobodne Vinarstvo winery is part of the family farm Majer Zemianske Sady near the small town Hlohovec in southwestern Slovakia. Founded in 1912, it was the largest tobacco farm in Central Europe at the time. In addition to tobacco, they also grew other crops, such as cereals, corn, beets, apples, pears, and, to a lesser extent, vines. Trouble came in the mid-50s of the twentieth century when, under the guise of nationalization, the then-communist regime seized all their land. This unfortunate circumstance was reversed only after the Velvet Revolution, in 1989, when the fourth and fifth generation of the family uncovered the documentation necessary for the return of their land by pure chance. It was a tedious and administratively demanding undertaking, but—fortunately—a successful one, which is why today they own 500 hectares of land, and 17 of which are covered with vineyards. They are cared for by the sisters Agnes Lovecka and Katarina Kuropkova and their partners Andrea Lovecka and Mišo Kuropka. The first bottles under the Slobodna Vinarstvo label came out in 2010. Although they intended to start with organic production from the very beginning, it was still a process of learning and gradual integration for them, and since 2016, they have been fully engaged in organic production. Since then, they went a step further and today apply biodynamics and work exclusively with indigenous yeasts, without the addition of modern oenological additives. They like experimenting with longer macerations of white varieties and “Kvevri,” which are traditional amphorae from Georgia.