About winemaker

The small family winery was founded on the basis of family tradition after 1990 (Karel Šmudla's family comes from Slovácko and his wife, née Pavlíková, also has a winery in the family). The Šmudla family also farmed in a joint cellar with the Pavlík family until 2011. The family winery harvests grapes from a small vineyard on Kraví hora with an area of 0.2 hectares, other raw materials come from vineyard growers in the area, mainly from the vineyards Dívčí hora, Slunný vrch and Růžová hora. Mr and Mrs Šmudl produce quality and quality wines using traditional methods with the use of some modern elements, such as fermentation with noble yeasts. The musts are aged for a long time on yeast, the whites are aged in plastic containers, the reds in classic barrels. Production in the less fertile 2010 vintage was around 2 300 bottles, with around 7 000 bottles expected from the 2011 vintage, and is expected to increase significantly in 2012, mainly with the help of purchased grapes. Part of the volume is sold in cask form. One of the advantages of small wineries (whose owners have other occupations), apart from a certain economic independence, is the possibility of changing the composition of the samples according to the current possibilities in a given vintage. Thus, the top of production at Šmudlů used to be the unique Riesling from Kraví Hora, but now Chardonnay, Veltliner Green or Pinot Noir Claret have been added. Customers are very keen to return for the quaint cuvée Garden, which is created, as the name suggests, from a vineyard where a few dozen heads of Muscat of Moravia, Müller-Thurgau, Veltliner Green, Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir and Vrboska grow side by side. The grapes are then pressed together and the wine matures to its optimum condition after one year. Since 2011, the Šmudl family has been operating in Nový Šaldorf in the cellar Under the Golden Mountain, where they can welcome groups of up to 35 visitors for tastings. Sales are mainly to private clients and wines are available from the cellar for prices up to CZK 170.