Charter of Autentisté

- PREAMBLE -

We, Autentisté, hereby align ourselves with the legacy of our ancestors who lived and worked in this land for centuries, who, among other things, cultivated grapevines and made wine from them for the delight of their spirits and to celebrate the goodness of God. As their descendants, we also want to use our native land as the mother of authentic wines, preserving and handing it down to our children healthy and beautiful.

We consider Pannonia, as part of the Roman Empire, to be the cradle of our shared viticultural and winemaking culture. The landscape architecture, viticultural laws, and methods of wine production have all grown from the same Pannonian root, which is shared by all wine-loving nations surrounded by the Alps and the Carpathians. The flow of time, woven into history, has formed a community of Central European nations that have survived together through good and bad, pain and joy, until today. The nations of the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy all share a common spirit, tradition, and values, which also form the framework for a shared winemaking culture. Through traditional viticulture and authentic wine, today our shared destiny gives us the opportunity to connect with everything created by humans on this common path.

The rapid transition from traditional viticulture to modern methods has often erased or completely obscured regional viticultural specifics. And it's not just about the disproportionate application of various substances "enhancing" wine. The resulting style of wine is also influenced by the abandonment of old, terraced vineyards, which are being

replaced by flatter locations where vines were never grown. The consequences are not only softened, "overfed" wines from highly fertile soils but also overgrown, desolate slopes, whose vineyards have shaped the genius loci of the landscape for centuries.

We, Autentisté, come together to preserve authentic viticulture and winemaking in Moravia and Bohemia. We recognize the importance of preserving both our own and our shared identity, as well as the importance of collaborating with winemakers who feel a sense of belonging with us and agree with the Charter of Autentisté.

Our goals are as follows:

  • To produce wines from our own vineyards using indigenous microorganisms, reflecting the spirit of the place as authentically as possible, captured by the unique hand of a sensitive winemaker.

  • To prioritize traditional vineyard locations and eco-friendly practices within them.

  • To preserve and protect the microflora of vineyards and cellars.

  • To favor Central European grape varieties (although the use of PIWI varieties is possible) and wooden barrels, including other traditional vessels made from natural materials.

  • To accept and not distort the influence of each year's weather on the wine.

  • To maintain centuries-old practices in vine cultivation and wine production.

  • To promote natural, authentic wines produced in accordance with the Charter of Autentisté.

- BINDING RULES -

Rules for work in the vineyard:

  • Preference for vine cultivation practices that take into account the principles of ecological, sustainable agriculture, aiming to maintain long-term fertility and biological activity of the soil, preserve biodiversity, and overall life in the vineyard.

  • The use of herbicides, rodenticides, synthetic insecticides, acaricides, and systemic fungicides is prohibited. Treatments are only permitted with protective agents and auxiliary substances approved for organic viticulture.

  • The application of synthetic fertilizers is prohibited.

  • Planting and cultivation of indigenous and traditional Central European grape varieties or varieties allowing for the application of the above-mentioned practices are preferred.

  • In new plantings, a minimum of 5000 bushes per hectare is recommended according to local conditions.

  • The maximum yield from one hectare is set at 50 hectoliters of wine.

  • Manual harvesting is preferred.

Rules for work in the cellar:

  • Preference is given to practices that minimize interventions in wine production while favoring biological, physical, and mechanical methods over chemical ones. The priority of cellar work is environmental protection, minimizing energy consumption, and waste generation.

  • The use of genetically modified organisms and additives produced with their use is prohibited.

  • The use of selected yeasts and yeasts from own selections is prohibited. Musts must ferment spontaneously using indigenous yeasts and bacteria present on the grapes and in the cellar. For sparkling wines made by the traditional method of bottle fermentation, the addition of liqueur de tirage (exogenous yeast and sugar solution) is permitted to initiate secondary fermentation in the bottle.

  • The use of all foreign products such as artificial nutrition for yeasts, added enzymes, and bacteria is prohibited. Only sulfur dioxide, possibly bentonite, and fresh egg white may be used during winemaking.

  • Must cleaning is only allowed by self-cleaning — natural sedimentation.

  • Sharp filtration (below 2 µm), pasteurization, alcohol and bouquet adjustment, carbon dioxide, tannins and stabilizers addition, flotation, centrifugation, reverse osmosis, membrane and cross-flow filtration, stripping columns, vacuum evaporation, must freezing, and vacuum distillation of musts, as well as any interventions distorting the character of the wine, are prohibited.

  • Acid and sugar adjustments of musts are prohibited, i.e. deacidification, acidification, increasing and decreasing must sugars, and must adjustments by adding condensed must or water.

  • Fermentation and aging in wooden, clay, ceramic, glass, or concrete vessels without controlled fermentation are preferred.

  • The total SO2 content in dry wines must not exceed 70 mg/l