Ours was fantastic! In every way. I was flipping through my journal and found the January 1, 2024 entry, where I wrote, “Perfection doesn’t come from overcoming limitations but from accepting them.” I was paraphrasing someone, probably Austin Kleon. Looking back now, I feel like I subconsciously tried to live by this idea all year.
We trimmed the fat and focused on what truly matters. That means 8 hectares less, uprooting blocks that didn’t make any sense—whether due to the grape varieties or the quality of the location. We returned leased vineyards. We want to work only on our own soil.
We became more efficient, accomplishing the same amount of work with a smaller number of skilled people.
We saved. I scrutinized every item, expense, need, and desire three times, asking myself whether it was truly necessary or if it could be done differently.
We worked on sustainability and our (carbon) footprint. We saved a significant amount of diesel, water, and electricity. We successfully completed a retention reservoir and rainwater harvesting infrastructure, built a 100 kW photovoltaic power plant, and acquired new electric vehicles.
We continued working on our château to make it a place where we feel good.
We worked diligently on harmonising each vineyard, gradually bringing them into greater balance. Younger vineyards, in particular, still need a lot of this care.
We lived more closely connected to the vines and the local environment. We made an effort to handle many tasks ourselves, avoided delegating unpopular work. It was a rebirth and a re-realisation that I am a grower.
We aimed to express the locality and the unique terroirs through our work.
We fell in love with Gruner Veltliner and Blaufrankisch even more.
We’ve been learning and drawing inspiration from the world of "traditional" wine, and we’ve come to realise that the natural wine label is often reduced to a specific style for certain drinkers (like “orange wines and pét-nats”) and/or can feel unnecessarily restrictive. Our future lies slightly elsewhere. Don’t get me wrong—I absolutely don’t want to produce conventional wines; otherwise, why would I bother with the stuff mentioned above? I simply want to be a good winemaker, someone who does their craft well and honestly. And to make good wine that people enjoy, regardless of whether they embrace the idea of natural wine or not.
We travelled and exchanged energy with people who appreciate our work and wines.
My son František was born in April—the highlight and greatest joy of all.
We relaxed and tried to focus on ourselves.
MIRA had an amazing release of its second vintage, and overall, what started as a side project is becoming an important endeavour where we realise our ideas, in a different way.
We embraced minimalism and used the word NO liberally. We limited new projects, which still keep sprouting in our minds, but now only 5% make it through the filter, compared to the previous 95%.
We only did the things we truly wanted to do. It’s not that hard—and as for what others might think about you? They already think it anyway. (Thanks, Radek, my coach, who’s probably reading this and will surely appreciate the subtle plug, haha.)
We did *not* release 15 new cuvées.
We *did* release the White Labels from the phenomenal 2021 vintage.
I had fewer phone calls, refused to manage things, and simply did them myself. The quality of my life improved dramatically.
We conducted 12 amazing interviews with winemakers who inspire us and whose work fascinates us, and we were thrilled to share them with you here on the blog.
We parted ways with some business partners and found new ones instead. (By the way, if you need to know which distributors carry our wine both at home and abroad, here’s the complete list.)
We spent time with people who give, not just take.
We had a great harvest. Smaller, but beautifully healthy and full of flavor. Thank you, nature.
Most of the wines fermented without major issues. Thank you, God.
We drank plenty of amazing wines that opened our eyes. (Sign up for our newsletter if you’d like to regularly read about the bottles that impressed me the most.)
We met new people who became our friends.
Our winery hosted many visitors who didn’t hesitate to travel around the world because of what we do. It’s amazing, but also a huge responsibility.
I have another 100 bullet points I could write down, but they’re just smaller things that contributed to us finding our breath again and living contentedly.
Voilà, my reflection and recollection of what 2024 was like. I highly recommend this exercise—I’m sure you’ll only remember the great moments. It’s a good thing memory works so selectively, right?!