About us
Our winery
Villa Vino Rača was established in May 2004, following a change in the legal form of the Rača agricultural cooperative, whose roots reach back to 1949. Our vines grow on the warm, sunny south-eastern slopes of the picturesque and distinctive Little Carpathians countryside. The interplay between the soil composition of our vineyards and the characteristics of the individual V. vinifera varieties is reflected in the inimitable originality of our white and red wines. Grape yields are limited, and during the harvest we carry out a selection of the vine fruit. Our wine production is guided by the principles of modern oenology. Pneumatic pressing of the grapes, settling of the musts, and physical and biological regulation of fermentation with our own strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are a matter of course in our production process.
For perfectly ripened grapes, harvested into small crates, our winery is the only one in Slovakia to use a sorting table, where the picked grapes are checked once more and, if needed, damaged berries are removed to ensure the perfect quality of the final product. The result of consistently followed production methods is exceptionally balanced wines that have not only a clean aroma with a distinct varietal character, but also a fresh and pleasant taste. Thanks to these qualities, Rača wine is popular even among more demanding consumers and lovers of this drink of kings.
History
The viticultural and winemaking company Villa Vino Rača, a.s., takes its name from Villa de Récse, the original name of the village recorded in 1322. Here, the cultivation of the grapevine has a tradition going back to the time of the Roman legions, which were stationed along the Danube.
Over the centuries, the best-known product from Rača became Račianska frankovka, a red wine that, according to a charter granted by Maria Theresa in 1767, gained recognition as a drink fit for the royal table.
The original cooperative, founded in 1949, was, until the end of the 1980s, an important supplier of grapes to the Rača wine works, where, however, the originality and the origin were lost in anonymous wines.
At the start of the 1990s, the cooperative gradually stopped selling grapes and began to build its own processing facilities. The demands of the market called for a gradual move to bottled production and the modernisation of production.
Rača, the capital of Frankovka
In the south-eastern heart of the Little Carpathians lies a treasure that has shaped the character of Slovak viticultural and winemaking culture for centuries. From the Celts and Slavs to German, Jewish and Croatian settlers, the Rača vineyards have kept their distinctive character. Despite the growth of the capital, the finest vineyards have been preserved, and today they supply the raw material for wines of world-class quality.
Račianska frankovka is our flagship. It is an iconic wine that perfectly reflects the genius loci of our vineyards. Račianska frankovka is made from the Blaufränkisch variety with an exclusively Rača lineage. Maria Theresa was also fond of frankovka; in the 18th century she granted a decree that allowed Račianska frankovka to be served at the imperial court in Vienna. Our Račianska frankovka comes from the
Krivé vineyard site, on a bedrock of weathered granite. This vineyard is among the best sites for growing Blaufränkisch in Slovakia.
Palugyay
The story of the Palugyay brand
In the second half of the 18th century, the Pressburg firm Palugyay and Sons was among the best-known wineries of Austria-Hungary. The Château Palugyay brand became a household name in all circles of the society and government elite of the time, the world over.
Jakub Palugyay (1818 to 1886) began his career as an innkeeper at Železná studnička. In 1857 he leased the hotel "At the Green Tree" (today's Hotel Carlton) and turned it into a place of gastronomic pilgrimage known as far as Vienna and Pest. Through his dedication and commercial talent, he gradually built a successful winery holding the title of imperial and royal court supplier. Palugyay wines stood out for their quality and were supplied to the royal courts of Europe, to the overseas expeditions of the Austrian fleet and to distant countries: Mexico, East Asia, India, China, Japan, America, Australia. As a point of interest, in Romania the firm accounted for 28% of total wine imports.
Wine of the Château Palugyay brand was also served on the tragic voyage of the steamer Titanic. The winery was based in a commercial building constructed on the toll line of what was then Pressburg. Today the Palugyay Palace houses the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic. The Palugyay cellars had the most modern technology and steam equipment, and a "wine pipeline" was even built directly to the railway station. The wines won the Knight's Cross of the Order of Franz Joseph (1873) and gold medals at world exhibitions (Vienna, Paris, Brussels, Melbourne).
The Palugyay brand has survived to the present day under the wing of Villa Vino Rača. These are the noblest wines made at this winery.
Shop PalugyayAwards
Domestic and international awards
Villa Vino Rača offers a varied range of wines that will satisfy even the most demanding wine lovers. Five wines in the Exclusive collection hold the Mark of Quality award. Our most exclusive collection, Palugyay, represents the absolute peak of our winemaking, where every bottle is proof of precision and a passion for wine. Naturally sweet wines, the ice and raisin selections, are a limited edition. We note with humility how our wines gain recognition at home and abroad, which encourages us to believe that our winery has matured to a quality worthy of the highest awards.
The Rača cooperative won its first international award back in 1959, at a wine competition in Austria, for its Blaufränkisch, 1958 vintage. Since then, Villa Vino Rača has built a firm position on the domestic and world wine scene and has won more than 1,900 awards at prestigious domestic and international competitions. Among the most significant are: Terravino, Mundus Vini, Mondial du Rosé, AWC Vienna, Vinalies Internationales Cannes, Mondial des Vins Blancs Strasbourg, Bacchus Madrid, Sakura Japan Women's Wine Awards, China CEEC Wine Awards, National Wine Salon of the Slovak Republic.
