The tradition of viticulture
The tradition of viticulture and wine making at the foot of the Little Carpathians has been known since when the area was inhabited by the Celts. Since then, wine production has gone through a massive boom. In the 15th century it was also produced in the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary, which included the current area of Slovakia.
The conception of Karpatske brandy
The distillery in Pezinok became a part of Vinárske závody in 1951, which brought together some of the most important wine producers in Slovakia, including the Sereď plant—the producer of the sparkling wine Hubert. Cognac imported from France was used as part of liqueur de tirage at that time, which was expensive.
The winemakers at Vinárske závody in Bratislava therefore accepted the challenge of creating their own quality brandy that would be added to the sparkling wine. They have gained their valuable experience at the very heart of the cognac production—the French area of Cognac.
Slovak quality
Since wine is not very different from brandy, according to the testimony of witnesses the first raw wine distillate was poured into 300 litre oak barrels in 1968. A few years later, it was extracted from the barrels for the first time and then stored in large oak pails. This was in 1975.
The first tastings already surprised even the experts. The mature brandy was so extraordinary that it was decided to sell it separately under the name of Karpatske brandy Special V.S.O.P. Gradually, it gained extraordinary popularity and became an inalienable brand of the then Czechoslovakia.
Transformations
After 1989, Vinárske závody SOE were transformed into Malokarpatský vinársky podnik a.s. (MVP), and later in 2003 to the company Vitis Pezinok s.r.o.
Original recipe
Years later, the two powerful products—the Hubert sparkling wine and the Karpatske brandy—were thus reunited. Hubert J.E. still maintains the production process according to the original recipes which is being supervised by employees with long experience in the production of brandy in Pezinok.