Forget Prague – the Czech city break you really should book

Moravian history still inspires Brno’s identity. The Moravian eagle adorns public buildings, the traditional blue and white Moravian dress is often seen in the city, and the Moravian dialect is proudly spoken. There is even a Moravian independence party.

more than cabbage

Autumn in Brno is the season for burcak, a semi-fermented wine prepared from the first pressed grapes of the harvest, and in Zelny trh, Brno’s medieval cabbage market (trhynazelnaku.cz), the stalls are stacked with bottles of it.

It’s an enduring Moravian tradition, but it’s not exactly what you would call traditional wine. Burcak continues to ferment after it’s made, and the sweet carbonated drink can contain between 5 and 9 percent alcohol. The problem is, you don’t know its true strength until you’re a few bottles deep.

The ‘real’ wine comes later in the season, and given that the South Moravian region is home to 96% of the Czech Republic’s wine producers, you’re never more than an hour away from the best vineyards here. from the country.

But Brno really is for beer drinkers, and the oldest brewery is almost as old as the city itself. Starobrno Brewery was founded by Cistercian monks in 1325 AD, less than a century after Brno was officially granted its city charter by the King of Bohemia. At the end of the Starobrno brewery tour (£5.40 pp including tasting; heinekenceskarepublika.cz) you can pour yourself a pint the Moravian way: unfiltered, unpasteurised and with a big frothy cap.