I’m coming back after a long break with a rant. As a wine enthusiast, I was quite excited to know about all these wine/harvest festivals going on around Bratislava. After accidentally discovering the intriguing Svätovavrinecké grape and tasting the wonderful Mrva & Stanko Svätovavrinecké wine at Primi bar, I was quite happy about these events and the possibility of tasting more Slovak wine.
So last weekend I attended the Vinobranie in Pezinok. Once I got there I thought I was witnessing an early Christmas market. ‘Where’s the wine?’ I kept asking myself. Toys, sweets, handmade jewelry, handmade useless stuff, Jägermeister (!), sausages, ciganska, kebabs, kürtőskalács trdelník, beer (!), too many people, too many mothers trying to make way using prams with babies in them. The good thing about the whole event was that I got to drink burčiak and mušt after a very long time. But no wine tasting whatsoever 
In short, about Slovak wine festivals. If you’re looking for a peaceful, well-organised wine tasting… avoid. If you want to attend a street market with your friends, drink beer and have local fast-food, well… what better excuse than the grape harvest?
Rant over.
I hope you didn’t pay to attend this thing.
Good to see you`re back. That sounds like a Christmas fair alright. Kürtőskalács is really nice. I found it by chance when walking around Budapest before flying back to Portugal. Hopefully I find it in Cluj if I get to go there next month.
@currybadger: Not really. About €2 for the train ticket
@Ferdy: I’m pretty sure you will find it in Cluj. Enjoy my home country
Hey Doulfe, sorry your vinobranie experience was a disapointing one
Sonia
Vinobranie can actually be lots of fun and it does include wine as well! Maybe going with someone local will make it easier next time
I live in Modra, Pezinok region now. we do hold an event called Day of open cellars which is just about the wine tasting. It should be coming up sometime in November, heres a link: http://www.mvc.sk/den-otvorenych-pivnic-2012/articles/den-otvorenych-pivnic-2012.
Hi Sonishka,
Btw, I went there with some locals, they weren’t very happy about it either.
Thanks for the comment. The problem is, I was expecting Vinobranie to be more than 50% wine-related, but it’s actually a big Christmas market like fair with some wine and grape juice instead of mulled wine. Now I know
And thanks for the information, I am really interested. Let’s see if I can afford it after all the travels I have planned for October-November
Cheers, S.