Pivnica Brhlovce

Ján Záborský, the winemaker of Pivnica Brhlovce, outside his cellar, i.e. where the magic happens, located in UNESCO village of Brhlovce. The cellar is located in one of the caves of Brhlovce, where in the 16th century locals dug into the tuff (compressed volcanic ash) bedrock to create homes and shelters. In the past, this is where Ján's grandmother received visitors, today it's where the wines ferment and age. 

Pivnica Brhlovce produces low intervention wines from grapes grown on the slopes of a caldera formed by the eruption of the Sitno stratovolcano. Bedrock of tuffs and high-in-minerals soils of this terroir combined with a colder and more humid microclimate provide the perfect environment for lighter wines with a mineral spine and robust acidity. The production shows wonderful variety between vintages with some years producing bone dry wines and others wines with a bit of residual sugar. The production is minuscule, around 8,000 bottles a year.

All of the wines are naturally fermented, unfined, unfiltered and with no or minimum sulphites added before bottling. They're all vegan too.