Czech Out The New Word in Old World Wines

In the south-east of Czech Republic, a sleepy, ancient vineyard region has emerged, blinking its eyes at the modern wine world ... probably wondering what all the fuss is about ...

Insularity due to Soviet control over several decades has meant that this wine region missed the boat in terms of the current global wine boom, and as such, has little export history.

That's the good news. Good because it means there is a new "Old World" wine region for vinophiles to discover! ... and it comes wrapped in a turbulent history of castles, cathedrals and conflict. Sounds like a wine-marketer's dream ...

... after all, they've been doing this for ages.

Moravian wines claim to date back to the Roman times of third century AD. However, it wasn't until the middle-ages that things got serious ... and that was in the west, around the major city of Prague.

Vines were introduced to the fairy-tale Bohemian region as far back as the ninth century at the decree of Saint Ludmila, Queen of Bohemia. The vines were planted at Melník , for the sole purpose of mass wine production. After all, what's a medieval monarchy without wine and banquets!

Emperor Charles IV, sovereign of the fourteenth century and educated in the French Court, ordered vines from Burgundy, France - heralding the start of a prosperous wine industry for Czech.

By the sixteenth century, vineyard cultivation and industry were peaking around Prague, but this was nipped in the bud by the Thirty Years War in the seventeenth century.

Over the next two centuries, viticulture was virtually wiped out - to the point where most of the current wine industry in Czech these days dates back only around the 1920's.

Two main wine regions ... Bohemia and Moravia.

Bohemia is probably more widely reknowned for its excellent beers - Pilsener unequalled in the world for freshness, purity and quality ... and crystal. Nevertheless, Bohemian wine has an affinity with German wine.

Prague is on the same latitude as the Rheingau and the Palatinate, and most of the varietals grown are the same as those grown in the German regions. Around 4,000ha of vines are grown in this region, just north of Prague.

Moravia, on the other hand, is the fruit bowl of Czech's wine industry, providing most of Czech's wines. This region covers an area of 11,000ha under vine, lying between Brno at it's northern tip and Mikulov on the Austrian border to the south.

The average annual temperature around 9.5°C is undoubtedly the reason that 75% of the wines produced are whites. Grape ripening hence takes a slower pace, with berries developing a concentration of terpenes, producing highly aromatic wines.

What do they grow?

REDS (less than one third vineyard planting)

Svatovavřinecké - Saint Laurent

Frankovka - Lemberger

Zweigeltrebe - Zweigelt

Rulandské modré - Pinot Noir

Modrý Portugal - Blauer Portugieser

Cabernet Sauvignon

WHITES (makes up the rest of vineyard planting): 

Müller-Thurgau

Veltínské zelené - Grüner Veltliner

Ryzlink vlašský - Welschriesling

Ryzlink rýnský - Riesling

Sauvignon blanc

Rulandské bílé - Pinot Blanc

Chardonnay

Rulandské šedé - Pinot gris

Tramín červený - Gewürztraminer

Neuburské - Neuburger

Muškát moravský - Moravian Muscat

Veltlínské červené rané - Frühroter Veltliner

Irsai Oliver

Labelling & Regulation

Well, this is, after all, part of Europe ... and like any other European Wine Region, Czech wine is categorised to the "nth" degree ... in accordance with the Wine Act of the Czech Republic.

Wine origin is specified:

vinařská oblast - (region)

vinařská podoblast - (subregion)

vinařská obec - (local village)

trať - (vineyard)

Wine type is labelled:

révové víno - (made from grapes)

stolní víno - (table wine)

jakostní víno - (quality wine made from must with sugar levels of 15g/L)

jakostní víno odrůdové - (max 3 grape varietals)

jakostní víno známkové - (cuveé, min 2 grape varietals)

jakostní víno s přívlastkem - (quality wine, max 3 grape varietals. Must required to have sugar level of 19g/L, with chaptalisation not allowed.)

Visiting Cellar Door

This particular wine region visit will remain in my mind as one of the most magical tours I went on. Although everywhere seemed deserted, spatterings of shrivelling grapes for icewine were left on otherwise naked vines. Rows of vines sprawled for hectares, coated in ice, looking like ghostly vineyards.

We drove from a smaller Czech town just north of the wine region, and by the time we were parallel with Brno, you couldn't see beyond the car bonnet for the fog. It was sensational! My hosts were apologetic, but I couldn't get the grin off my face!

We drove to Mikulov, stopping along the way for me to take photographs. Mikulov sits atop a rise and was thus above the fog, and the view would probably have been of much more viticultural interest had we been able to see any of it.

Nevertheless, as I said, the vision of vineyards appearing like spectres remains one of my favourite memories of Cellar Door roaming.

For the serious wine enthusiast, there's a lot more to visit in the Mikulov wine region than haunted me through the fog.

Not far from Mikulov, is Valtice, where in the majestically restored Chateau Valtice, you'll find the National Wine Centre.

Valtice is considered the centre for both wine-growing and wine tourism in South Moravia. It is part of a "Composed Landscape" region heralded "the Pearl of South Moravia" (Lednice - Valtice Composed Landscape) listed with UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site.

It's an area of parks and ponds that provide a setting for a collection of Romantic era buildings - the Temple of Apollo, the Belvedere, the Border Chateau, the Temple of Three Beauties, Jan’s Castle, the Chapel of St. Hubert, the Colonnade Na Rajstně, the Hunting Lodge, the Minaret, the Farm Nový dvůr, the Obelisk, the Rendezvous (the Temple of Diana), the Pond Chateau, Lány, and the Chateau of Pohansko.

I can see I will have to get back there soon, preferably in the summer, and bring you more photo's! In the meantime, have a look at this tourist site for some idea.

What I especially loved in this region was the proliferation of wine available in small bottles. This is fantastic when you're only after a taste - and extremely convenient for both travelling and bringing home as souveniers!

[Back to Top]

Last Updated: 2/7/2010