Slovakia's best wines according to Falstaff 2027: the winners and tastings you can book
A nine-year-old Riesling from Château Belá, a single-vineyard Blaufränkisch from Mužla and the first winner of a new sparkling wine category. Falstaff has announced the top-rated Slovak wines in its 2027 guide. Two of the winning wineries are easy to visit without a car: they are a train ride from Bratislava, and you can book a tasting directly on GoGo.wine.
The winners were presented on 10 November 2026 at the second Falstaff Wine Gala in Bratislava's Old Market Hall (Stará tržnica). Guests could taste more than 150 wines and see the second edition of the Slovak Falstaff Wine Guide. We read the results not just as a ranking, but as ideas for your next wine trip.
Falstaff Wine Guide 2027 winners
- Best Rhine Riesling and overall winner: Château Belá, Rhine Riesling botrytis selection (cibébový výber) 2017, 96 points
- Best Blaufränkisch (Frankovka modrá): Bott Frigyes, Faricka 2024, 96 points
- Best Welschriesling (Rizling vlašský): Zámocké vinárstvo Šimák, Zámok Pezinok, botrytis selection (cibébový výber) 2022, 95 points
- Best sparkling wine (new category): VIAJUR, Blanc de Blancs Brut NV, 93 points
- Best-rated collection: Bott Frigyes
- Discovery of the Year: Papillon – Víno od Francúza
Château Belá and Bott's Faricka both scored 96 points. Falstaff gave the overall title only to the Belá Riesling, which is why it heads the list.
Two winning wineries where you can book a tasting now
| Zámocké vinárstvo Šimák, Pezinok | VIAJUR, Svätý Jur | |
|---|---|---|
| Shorter tasting | Enomatic, 6 samples, 30 min | Wine Tour Pro Patria, 3 samples, 45 min |
| Longer tasting | Club 1271, 6 premium wines, 40 min | Wine Tour Pro Rege, 6 samples, 90 min |
| Extra | wine voucher | tour of the historic Pálffy cellars |
| Booking | Enomatic at fixed times, Club 1271 on request | fixed times, 2 people or more |
One note for both wineries: the award-winning wine may not be part of the regular tasting. If you want to try it, ask when you book.
Welschriesling in an unusually rich style
Welschriesling is one of Slovakia's most widely planted grapes, and many people know it as a light summer white. Zámocké vinárstvo Šimák in Pezinok showed its other side. The winning wine is a cibébový výber, a concentrated sweet wine made from hand-selected berries affected by noble rot. The 2022 vintage by winemaker Roman Janoušek earned 95 points for its many layers and full, almost opulent style, held together by fresh acidity.
The winery occupies the cellars of Pezinok castle, which was falling into ruin before its restoration. Enomatic is a short tasting rather than a guided tour: a sommelier pours six wines from an Enomatic machine, which keeps open bottles in top condition, and you get a voucher towards wine. Entry to the castle premises is paid separately. For a guided tasting, choose Club 1271: six premium wines with local cheese and charcuterie, a tour of the production cellar and a wine voucher.
VIAJUR wins the first sparkling wine award
Falstaff opened a sparkling wine category for the first time this year, citing the fast-growing interest in bubbles. The top spot, with 93 points, went to the Blanc de Blancs Brut from VIAJUR. Blanc de Blancs is a sparkling wine made only from white grapes, and NV (non-vintage) means no single vintage is stated on the bottle. The panel praised its rich biscuity notes and freshness, which together make a harmonious wine. Bubbles were a theme of the evening, too: the workshop with international wine judge Edita Ďurčová covered the differences between sparkling wines and the glasses to serve them in.
VIAJUR is based in the Renaissance Pálffy Manor House in Svätý Jur. The young winery continues a tradition that Katarína Pálffy began in these cellars as early as 1580. Wine Tour Pro Rege takes you through the press house, bottling line, historic cellars, sparkling-wine cellar and barrique cellar in 90 minutes, with six samples. For a shorter stop, Wine Tour Pro Patria offers three wines and a small snack in 45 minutes. The winery's second estate is in Farná, about half an hour by taxi from Nové Zámky, where you taste right among the vines.
Book: Pro Patria · Pro Rege
More winners: Château Belá, Bott Frigyes and Papillon
These three wineries don't yet offer tastings through us, but their names are worth remembering: together they took four of the six awards.
Château Belá won the Rhine Riesling category with its 2017 botrytis selection, and Falstaff also named it the overall winner. In the amber wine, the panel found honey, dried apricots and figs alongside walnuts and bergamot, with pronounced acidity balancing the sweetness. The estate sits above the Danube near Štúrovo, where Miroslav Petrech makes the wine together with Egon Müller of Germany's Mosel.
Bott Frigyes from Mužla took two titles. His single-vineyard Faricka Frankovka modrá 2024 scored 96 points, and the panel described it as complex, polished and full of fruit. Bott also achieved the highest ratings of all the collections entered. According to Falstaff, he makes his wines traditionally, without additives, with spontaneous fermentation in wooden barrels and amphorae and ageing on the lees.
Discovery of the Year is Papillon – Víno od Francúza from Devičie in the Central Slovak wine region. The winery moved up to four stars, and the panel was especially surprised by its mature Sauvignon 2020, its top-rated wine. The winemakers sum up their philosophy in one line: "The wine will be the way the grapes are."
Two winning wineries by train from Bratislava
Svätý Jur and Pezinok are on the same railway line, with hourly trains from Bratislava, so you don't need a car to visit both winning wineries.
Start in Svätý Jur, where you can taste VIAJUR wines in the historic cellars of the Pálffy Manor House, for example on the 45-minute Pro Patria tour. Svätý Jur station is outside the town centre, so allow about a 20-minute walk to the manor. Then take a short train ride to Pezinok. Šimák Castle is within a 15-minute walk of the station, where you can choose the short Enomatic tasting or the guided Club 1271 tasting. Both wineries have Saturday slots in their calendars.
Tip: book both tastings first, then plan your trains. Treat yourself to a day built for comparison: two very different wineries, two approaches to wine, and nobody stuck being the designated driver.
Book: VIAJUR Pro Patria · Zámocké vinárstvo Enomatic
How the Falstaff Wine Guide is made
The guide is compiled by a panel of sommeliers and wine experts from across Slovakia, led by Falstaff wine editor Ľuboš Bogár, using the international 100-point scale. Wines are rated year-round in the variety-specific Falstaff Trophy tastings and through samples submitted directly to the guide. It is a selection of participating wineries, not a competition covering every Slovak wine: each winery has five to nine of its top-rated wines in the book, depending on the size of the presentation it ordered. The highest-scoring wine took each category, while Discovery of the Year and Best-Rated Collection were agreed by the panel. Every winery in the Slovak edition also appears in the pan-European guide in the free Falstaff app.
Photos: Jakub Čajko for Falstaff Slovensko. Results source: Falstaff Slovensko press release, 10 November 2026.
