Dear guests, we are proud that our shop is located on one of the oldest preserved sites of Košice, where the history meets the present. Therefore, we would like to at least briefly introduce the history – and mainly the reason for naming the wine bar VILLA CASSA. We hope that you will feel comfortable and will spread the word of the mouth not only in Slovakia, but anywhere you come from.
History of wine making in Košice
Wine and wine growers formed an integral part of economic and social functions of Košice in the Middle Ages and modern times alike. It was a valuable commercial item, which was intended not only for Spiš and Polish cities, but also for their own use. Wine has been a part of life of people of Košice. The city itself was surrounded by vineyards. In the surroundings, vineyards interfered with municipalities Ťahanovce and Myslava. Majority of vineyards was owned by the townspeople. Those rich, bought vineyards in Tokay region too: in Szanto, Szikszo, Tallya, Garadna and Tolcsva.
The importance of wine to the city is shown in the royal privileges granted to Košice townspeople to protect their wine business. The most important is the so called Great privilege of King Louis I of October 1347, which stipulated that only Košice townspeople were allowed to sell wine in Košice until Pentecost.
The Archive of the city of Košice contains between the books of urban and extra-urban economies the inventory of wines from 1521, which is also the oldest inventory. Each entry consists of a name, surname, the type of wine (K – Košice, L – Tokay) and the number of wine barrels. This inventory was created in Košice city office for the needs of the city government, it was written by an official who was in charge of running the city agenda. It is clear from the inventory that the employees of the city, hospital staff, and day labourers working for townspeople and mayor at each election of the mayor were allocated wine as an addition to their earnings. Price of wine was between 12-15 gold per barrel, so we can assume that the wine was owned by the city’s elite, which included merchants, craftsmen, doctors, pharmacists, notaries and clerics.
A separate report of Košice vineyards is prepared in 1700 together with the report of Tokay vineyards. Vineyard that belonged under the Košice authority included: Varanajka, Bornemisza, and Červený breh, Chotar, Dluha and Kriva. Citizens had vinyards on Hradova, Rovna, Chrast, Medzvedza, Chotar, Vysny Heringes and on Úzka, tithe of which was given to the city.
Central Administration of Tokay vineyards of the city of Košice was located in Szanto. Under the administration of the vineyard were: Szanto, Tokaj, Forro, Garadna with vinyards Sator, Suranka, Fekete, Gelentsér, Patots, Gorbe, Hasznos, Nagy Haszno, Bohomaly and Nyirjes.
Public drawing of wine was an important commercial activity and constituted an important revenue for the city. In Košice, this was done in Levoca house.