Outside of the Slobodné Vinárstvo winery in Hlohovec, western Slovakia, an affectionate German Shepherd named Luna insinuates herself in and out of our legs. The winery s co-owner Agnes Lovecka and I sip strong black coffee at a table freighted with sweet cheese and vanilla cakes,
korbácik (an exceptionally stringy cheese),
parenica (rolls of smoked cheese), charcuterie from a nearby farm and
treska, a cod salad – which I m fittingly informed is instrumental in soaking up hangovers. Breakfast wine! Mišo Kuropka bellows. Agnes brother-in-law and business partner arrives at the table barefoot in a striped Breton shirt and wraparound cycling glasses, brandishing three bottles of off-market pinot gris pét-nat.