Wine
Wine has always been and will no doubt continue to be key to Bratislava’s cuisine.
Slovakia’s capital city finds itself smack bang in the middle of several of the finest wine producing districts of Europe. The Small Carpathians (Malokarpatská) Wine Region produces the Slovak version of Chardonnay, Pinot blanc, Noir, and Gris as well as Savignon Gewurztraiminer, Cabernet Sauvignon, Albernet, St. Laurent, and Zweigeltrebe. Unique to the region are Silvánske zelené, Devín, Milia, Noria, Dunaj, and Hron grapes The latter are Slovak grape varieties cross-bred to thrive in the unique Slovak climate and soil.
Rača, a northern suburb of Bratislava, produces the wonderful red wine Blaufrankisch/Lemberger known as Frankovka. Forever linked to Empress Maria Theresa, who was so impressed with its medicinal qualities and its ability to make her forget the many headaches of governing a large and complex empire that she gave Rača royal privileges to reward the region for producing this rich, full-bodied, red wine.
