Winemaking in My Great-Grandparent’s Region of Moravia (Znojmo)
Winemakers from southern Moravia and Lower Austria have been governed by the same rights and obligations for centuries, so it is not surprising that some of their customs and traditions are similar, which have often been preserved in wine-growing communities to the present day.
The favorite patron saint of wine, vineyards and winemakers was Saint Urban (May 25), who was worshipped mainly in Moravia, where his cult probably came from Lower Austria. Wherever wine was grown, this holiday was one of the important days and marked the turning point in the winemaker's year. Winemakers drank wine in his honor in their cellars and also walked around the entire underground part of the cellars with lit holy candles.
The most unique wine-growing customs include, first and foremost, the "hora" (mountain). This was done before the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (August 15) or before the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (September 8), i.e. between mid-August and mid-September, when the grapes were ripening.
The name "hora" refers to vineyards lying in one line and, figuratively, to a sign (in German border villages, these tall vine-dressing poles were called "Húterstangen" or regionally "Húaterstongan") indicating that the vineyard was closed and that entry was prohibited. In the Znojmo region, a windmill was attached to the "hora", usually a tall pine pole, the noise of which drove away starlings, and Christian symbols of a cross with a ladder, to the lower part of which were nailed pliers with a hammer and a dove on the side. However, bouquets of magical herbs, especially chernobyl, wormwood, St. John's wort and thistle, as well as a straw hat, an ancient sign of prohibition, were also attached to the "mountain".
The "mountain" was supposed to protect the entire vineyard during its ripening period against storms, hail or the rampage of witches and other evil powers. In some areas of Moravia, including the Znojmo region, this custom was also accompanied by fun shooting at targets or at hats thrown into the air. This custom came to Moravia from Lower Austria, where shooting in vineyards, originally a Whitsun custom, was widespread much earlier. Of course, the shooting also scared away birds eager for ripe grapes and, according to superstitious beliefs, the noise was also supposed to drive away unclean forces.
The act of blocking the mountain, or in dialect, blocking the mountain, symbolizes the closing of the vineyard to all who have no business there. The mountain generally refers to a vineyard, and when grapes used to ripen in it, a pole several meters high was driven into it, which signaled that entry into the vineyards was prohibited. So the name of the tradition of "blocking the mountain" makes sense. It has roots in Christianity (the participants in the ceremony prayed to the patron saints of the vineyard for the harvest) and in pagan customs.
While reading about the mountain-blocking, you might recall the nursery rhyme: “I close, I close the forest, so that no one can come in here. Not even a cat or a dog.” No animals, especially “grape-hungry” starlings, or human thieves, are allowed to enter the vineyards. In short, no one who would want to enjoy this year’s harvest, when it is only a few weeks away from the proper “ripening.” However, there would be exceptions – pregnant women and the sick, who were allowed to pick three grapes on a hot day. And then, of course, the winemaker himself and the so-called hotars, the vineyard guards. What was the danger if you broke the ban? The punishments were very severe – the amputation of a leg or arm or even loss of life was no exception.
After the "mountain", which took place with the participation of the mayor, a feast usually followed at the expense of the municipality. In addition to the "mountain", the vineyards were also guarded by guards called "hotars", who stayed throughout the ripening of the grapes in temporary shelters, e.g. in the Moravian Krumlov region, straw shelters built directly in the vineyard. For their all-day service, they were rewarded with wine and money, and in some municipalities, each of the vineyard owners also prepared a festive lunch for them.
The year-round efforts of winemakers culminate in the grape harvest, which in southern Moravia usually takes place from mid-September to early November. At that time, work moves from the vineyards to the cellars, where the grapes are processed into wine. However, the term grape harvest also covers a celebration held after the grape harvest is complete, usually in September or early October. In border wine-growing villages, it is documented in the early 20th century as a celebration managed by various associations or social organizations, most often firefighters in a decorated inn. However, the origin of these celebrations is older and stems from the manorial environment during serf times, when processions with the delivery of the first grapes were a matter of representation for the nobility.
The specific wine-growing customs of Lower Austria include those that primarily involve during the grape harvest, the so-called “vineyard goat” (in the local German dialect “Weinbagoass” or “Weinberbock”) appears, protectors of grapes and vineyards.
These are mainly special harvesting actions characterized by leaving grapes on a good fruitful bush usually found at the end of the vineyard. From the territory of Lower Austria, this custom gradually penetrated into some German wine-growing villages in southern Moravia, and in the Znojmo region we have demonstrably documented it from Vrbovec and Valtrovice.
The vineyard goat was represented by a wooden goat decorated with grapes, fruit, flowers and ivy, which was supposed to bring happiness and health to the house. It also served as a gift to good friends and respected people. They enjoyed the fruit and the wooden skeleton was subsequently returned to the donor. The hunters also brought it to the innkeeper, who rewarded them with a bucket of wine and a spicy stew. In older times, researchers identified this custom with the cult of Dionysus or with animal demons. However, leaving grapes in the vineyard is more related to some harvest and carol customs known from German and Slavic environments, in which a goat often acts as a bearer of fertility and prosperity.
The ancient custom clearly has an ambiguous origin. Researchers have come up with several versions. According to archaeologist Čižmák, the roots of the custom go back to antiquity. Others attribute it to the Roman legions or Celtic ancestors in our territory. In those ancient times, they sacrificed a live goat. Peasants believed that the god of the harvest takes on an animal form, is weakened after the harvest and must therefore be killed so that he can be reborn in full force in the spring. The ancient Greeks similarly sacrificed goats as punishment for damage to the vineyards. Fortunately, the custom of transformation has survived and eyewitnesses already know it "in a vegan form" - winemakers in the Znojmo region presented village representatives with a mask in the form of a goat's head decorated with fruit and flowers. A grape goat in a vineyard guarantees a good harvest , favorable weather, rewards good farmers, and punishes lazy people.
In wine-growing villages, new wine was tasted or "baptized" mainly on the feast of St. Martin (November 11). In Znojmo (city) itself, however, wine was tasted for the first time on the feast of the city's patron saint, St. Lucy (December 13). A mass was served at her altar in the former town hall chapel, and after it, exuberant celebrations continued long into the night in the town hall cellar. The last time local councilors "tasted" the young wine was in 1779. The festivities subsequently ceased during the Josephine reforms (1780-1790), and the St. Lucius chapel has not survived to this day. On the feast of St. John the Evangelist (December 27), wine was blessed in churches.
A Czech proverb connected with the Feast of St. Martin – Martin přijíždí na bílém koni (trans. “Martin is coming on a white horse”) – signifies that the first half of November in the Czech Republic is the time when it often starts to snow. St. Martin’s Day is the traditional feast day in the run-up to Advent. Roasted goose is usually found on restaurant menus, and the Czech version of Beaujolais nouveau, Svatomartinské víno, a young wine from the recent harvest, which has recently become more widely available and popular. Wine shops and restaurants around Prague pour the first of the St. Martin’s wines at 11:11 a.m. Many restaurants offer special menus for the day, featuring the traditional roast goose
Some wine-making patrons were also venerated in our region. In Znojmo it was St. Urban, but St. Vincent, St. Lawrence, St. Roch were also popular, and in the village of Jaroslavice St. Donatus, whose statue was erected in 1737. The cult of saints came to our region from Western Europe, probably from the Lower Austrian environment.
During the grape ripening period, women decorated statues of saints with flowers and vine leaves. Thus, traces of pre-Christian customs similar to those of the harvest festival have been preserved in the veneration of saints. Centuries-old experience of winemakers is also preserved in small verbal folklore, especially in proverbs and sayings.
Grapevines also feature in folk medicine, for example, its leaves were applied to varicose veins, grape juice was used to heal wounds, and grape seeds were said to be a unique rejuvenating agent.
Sources:
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