HACAJ winery in Pezinok: sparkling wine in a 300-year-old cellar

Bubbles from the Little Carpathians

Pezinok is the centre of the Little Carpathian Wine Route, a town where winegrowers’ houses with deep cellars line the old streets. It is home to HACAJ, a small family winery that specialises in something rare in Slovakia: sparkling wines (sekt) made by the traditional champagne method (méthode classique). Still varietal wines are only a side line.

The traditional method is the most demanding way to make sparkling wine. First a base wine is made, then it is bottled with yeast and sugar, and the second fermentation happens in the bottle itself. The wine matures on its lees for months or years; the bottles are then gradually turned neck-down in riddling racks so the sediment gathers by the cork, and finally it is removed. All of this takes time, handwork and good grapes.

The winery works in a winegrower’s house more than 300 years old in central Pezinok, a cultural and historic monument of the town. It is an example of urban wine architecture in which living, production and storage spaces were combined around one enclosed courtyard. Its vaulted brick cellars now hold the maturing sekt. The family grows its grapes on the slopes above town: a Sauvignon vineyard more than 40 years old in the Grefty site, and 1.17 ha of Pinot Noir (Rulandské modré) on terraces on the southern slope of the Little Carpathians at about 220 m, on limestone and slate soils.

Why go

• A tasting in a historic cellar. Guests are shown the old cellar and how sekt is made by the traditional method, followed by a tasting with expert commentary right in the production rooms.
• Choose your format. The basic tasting is four wines (sekt, white, rosé, red) with bread and pastries; the classic one six wines, including three sekts, with cheese; the sekt tasting six sparkling wines with cheeses, spreads and fruit plus a walk through production; and a “wine lovers’” tasting is put together for a particular occasion.
• Sabrage. On request you can watch — or try yourself — opening a bottle of sparkling wine with a sabre.
• “Open viechy”. In summer the winery opens its cellar to everyone as part of the town’s “Otvorené viechy” evenings: entry is free and you can order a glass of wine or sekt on the spot.

What to taste and buy

Sekt comes first: brut and extra brut from Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Pinot Noir, including a white sparkling wine from red grapes (blanc de noirs). Of the still wines, try the Sauvignon from Grefty and the Pinot Noir from the terraces above Pezinok. Wines are sold on site and in the online shop.

Practical information

Address: M. R. Štefánika 21, 902 01 Pezinok — the town centre; enter through the car park behind the House of Culture on Holubyho street. Pezinok is about 20 km from Bratislava with frequent trains and buses, so it is easy to come for a tasting without a car (drivers in Slovakia may not drink at all).

Booking (as of October 2026): tastings by advance booking: +421 907 792 087, [email protected]. Prices are quoted on booking. The next year’s Open viechy dates appear on the website in spring.

Nearby

• VIAJUR winery in Svätý Jur — the Pálffy manor cellars 10 km away.
• Karpatská Perla in Šenkvice and Juran z Modry — further north along the wine route.
• Pezinok castle and park — for a walk after the tasting.

Official website: hacaj.sk

Photos: images.squarespace-cdn.com.