Do you know the story of straw wine?

The uniqueness of straw wines is given by the difficult production technology. It all starts by the top quality raw material , the grapes intended for production of straw wine are grown on selected vineyards because they must be well ripened. At the time of harvest they must reach the sugar content of at least 27 degrees (27 kg of sugar in 100 litres of juice). The best grapes are handpicked and only the absolutely healthy ones are selected to be placed on straw. The winemaker keeps the grapes drying on straw for at least 3 months with extreme care. At this phase, the grapes must be under continuous control because they are prone to go bad easily. When the grapes reach the desired sugar content of 40 – 50 degrees, the grapes are selected from straw and pressed. Very gentle pressing takes 36 hours – the amount of extracted juice ranges between 10-15% and is very concentrated. During fermentation the alcohol content reaches about 10-11% and high residual sugar up to 370g per liter. Afterwards the wine is aged in oak barrels and then matured in bottles, it gets to the market 3-4 years after the vintage.

Straw wines are full-bodied wines, with rich aroma and flavors, with high extract content. To produce a plesant straw wine with high level of residual sugar but at the same time backboned with acidity not cloying on the palate, requires a lot of knowledge, experience and patience from the winemaker. Straw wines are very complex, we recommend to serve them with desserts or complement with rich savoury foods e.g. aged blue cheese.
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Tasting of Pinot Blanc 2012

Pinot Blanc is an old French grape variety, a member of Pinot family associated particularly with Alsace, a white mutation of Pinot Gris which is itself a lighter-berried version of Pinot Noir. The cultivar requires excellent warm slopes, in appropriate conditions it regularly ripens into Prädikatswein providing full-bodied, harmonic and extractive wines. In the Czech Republic Pinot Blanc is the 8th most grown vine variety with about 800 ha planted. It is processed to various styles of wines from dry to sweet varietal wines, but also for blends mainly for sparkling wine.

Pinot Blanc

semi-dry

Spätlese (Late harvest)
13,0 % alc.
residual sugar: 9,5 g/l
acids: 6,6 g/l

Moravia region, Slovacko subregion

This Pinot Blanc 2012 comes from the Slovacko subregion, from the winery Zamecke vinarstvi Bzenec - collection GRANDS VINS D'ALFONS MUCHA. Yellow-gold color, fine aroma with floral notes, lemon, honey, pears and bread crust. The palate is full, with taste of pears, peaches, citrus flavors with a distinctive minerality, with nutty and bread notes. Thanks to maturing in the bottle, the wine is round, very elegant and harmonic with different layers of flavors. The acidity is still lively lingering into sweet aftertaste of residual sugar. 

This wine comes from a collection GRANDS VINS D'ALFONS MUCHA featuring paintings by world known Czech Art Nouveau painter Alfons Mucha. He was born in Moravia and produced at the turn of 19th and 20th century. The painter became famous literally overnight when in 1895 painted an advertisement for the Parisian play Gismonda for Sarah Bernhardt, the famous actress in Théatre de la Renaissance. The poster had such a huge success that the actress started a six year contract with him. 

The bottle is accompanied by a beautiful present box

Mucha's paintings feature often young women in flowing robes surrounded by flowers, the posters are characterized by pastel colors. Altough he produced lots of posters, illustrations, advertisements and postcards, his masterpiece is the so called The Slav Epic depicting, on twenty huge canvases, the history of Czech people and other Slavic nations.

The label of this Pinot Blanc is depicting Winter from the series The Seasons of the Year.
From this beautiful collection we offer also Welschriesling 2012 and Pinot Noir Rosé 2014.

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Classification of wines in the Czech Republic

Trying to understand the classification of wines is necessary in order to choose the wine prior to tasting it. On each label of wine from the Czech Republic, you can find three important specifications:

1.      Quality attributes

In the Czech Republic, we use similar system as in Germany and Austria, the so-called Germanic system for classifying wines based to the minimum sugar content present in the grape juice by harvest. The sugar content in juice is denominated in ˚ČNM (Český Normalizovaný Moštoměr = Czech Normalised Must-Weight). 

One degree of ČNM stands for 1 kg of sugar in 100 litres of juice.

TABLE WINE – min. 11˚ČNM. The origin of grapes is in EU.

LAND WINE – min. 14˚ČNM. The wine is produced from grapes with origin in the Czech Republic – it can be categorized as wine with protected geographical denomination (PGI).

QUALITY WINE – min. 15˚ČNM. The grapes must be from vineyards in a single wine region and also the wine must be produced in the same region where the grapes were harvested. The grape variety must be listed in the State Register of Grape Varieties. It can be categorized as wine with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). The quality wine can be both varietal wine (it has to contain at least 85% of the variety marked on the label) or can be used for blends.

QUALITY WINE WITH SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES (PRÄDIKATSWEIN) – the highest quality wines. The grapes must fulfill all the requirements for the quality wine. Furthermore, the grapes must come from one single subregion and the wine is verified by the State Agricultural and Food Inspectorate. Chaptalization is not permitted.

1)Kabinet wine

Must-weight minimum is 19°ČNM. These wines are lighter, dry, pleasantly drinkable.

2)Late harvest/Spätlese

Must-weight level has reached minimum of 21°ČNM. These wines are full, extractive, mostly dry or semi-dry.

3)Special selection of grapes/Auslese

Wines from grapes ripened to minimum of 24°ČNM. These wines are full, extractive, with a higher alcohol content or with a higher content of residual sugar.

4)Special selection of berries/Beerenauslese

Wines produced from grapes that ripened a long period on the vine, the must-weight level has achieved at least 27°ČNM. These are very round, extractive, semi-sweet or sweet wines.

5)Ice wine/Eiswein

Ice wine is made from grapes frozen on the vine, harvested at least at temperature of -7°C. Must-weight must achieve minimum of 27°ČNM. Grapes must not defrost during the pressing, so the water remains unpressed in the grapes in form of ice and during the pressing the juice becomes highly concentrated. Ice wines are very extractive and sweet.

6) Straw wine/Strohwein

Grapes for the straw wine are dried for at least 3 months on straw or reed mats or suspended on racks. The resulting must-weight has to reach at least 27°ČNM. Pressing of grapes may be precipitated after two months if the must weight level has reached 32°ČNM. Straw wines are highly extractive and sweet.

7) Special selection of botrytised berries/Trockenbeerenauslese

The wines are produced from selected berries that have been attacked by noble rot and the minimum must weight is 32 °ČNM. Thanks to the extremely long ripening the majority of the berries turn into raisins. They provide very extractive and sweet wines.

2.      Origin specification

The quality wine is also classified according to the region where the grapes were grown. The origin specification is divided as follows: Wine Region (Moravia or Bohemia) – Wine Subregion – Wine Village – Vineyard. To get more information about the subregions and villages, see the previous article on our blog: http://checkczechwine.blogspot.cz/2016/07/small-but-diverse-wine-regions-in-czech.html

3.      Categorization based on the residual sugar content

A wine is fermented to different level of residual sugar – based on its content, the wine is categorized into four groups in the Czech Republic.

DRY – max. 4 g/l of residual sugar or max. 9 g/l of residual sugar when the difference of residual sugar and total acidity content converted to tartaric acid is less than 2 grams

SEMI-DRY – max. 12 g/l of residual sugar or max. 18 g/l of residual sugar when the difference of residual sugar and  total acidity content converted to tartaric acid is less than 10 grams

SEMI-SWEET – max. 45 g/l of residual sugar

SWEET – more than 45 g/l of residual sugar

Front label with all used classifications

The new trend is creating of appellations (VOC = Wine of Original Certification) based on the French model - the first one was created in 2009 in Znojmo subregion. The appellation system stands for a range of restrictions regarding the origin of grapes from registered vineyards, specific varieties, yield, alcohol and residual sugar, the grapes must be hand-picked and style of the wine must by typical for the area - mostly maturing in oak barrels is forbidden. However, this classification is not much widespread and local customers are much more familiar with the Prädikat categories. Maybe in future it will gain more importance and awareness, thus the quality of the production will grow again.

In our assortment you can find only the highest quality wine from the Czech Republic - all the wines are with special attributes (Prädikatswein): http://www.winehills.eu/

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Tasting of Kerner 2015

Kerner is not a typical grape variety for the Czech Republic although in neighbour Germany it belongs to the most grown ones. There is only an area of 43 ha planted in Moravia, therefore it creates a marginal part of the local production. However, the grape has very good resistance to frost because of its late budding, so the yields are high every year. It also ripens to high sugar content, so it provides regularly very good grapes for Prädikatswein. It is quite a new grape, a German cross of Trollinger and Riesling. The varietal has been named in honor of a physician and poet J. Kerner whose work included poetry and songs on wine. 

Kerner 2015

semi-sweet

Auslese (Special selection of grapes)
12,5 % alc.
residual sugar: 42,4 g/l
acids: 7,6 g/l

Moravia region, Mikulov subregion

This Kerner 2015 comes from the winery Mikrosvin Mikulov, from the Mikulov subregion. The soils in this area are calcareous, giving the wine piquancy, spiciness and power. The slopes under the massif of Palava Hills are appreciated as one of the best in the country, the beginnings of viticulture in Moravia are associated with this area.

Pale green-yellow color, intense aroma of dark honey, lemon, muscat and floral notes. The palate reminds of concentrated Riesling flavors, dark honey, apples, pears, dried apricots, sweetened lemon. The primary sweet taste is slashed by surprisingly pronounced zesty acidity, very lively tickling the palate. The crisp finish is lingering into slightly bitter pomelo and grapefruit notes. This Kerner definitely surprises by strong acidity which backbones the high content of residual sugar, so although categorized as semi-sweet, it is a pleasant wine.

This wine comes from a collection FLOWER LINE which connects wines carrying joy and optimism, produced with an intent to emphasize the primary varietal aromatics, intense fruits, freshness and crispiness. A beautiful label shows eye-catching paintings of wild flowers, attracting mainly women customers.

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Tasting of Grüner Veltliner 2015

It is almost obligatory to start with Grüner Veltliner, the most planted grape variety in the Czech Republic. The flagship of our neighbour Austria doesn’t enjoy such a high popularity by the local Czech customers recently, therefore the planted area has decreased in last 10 years to almost a half, creating less than 10% of the total vineyards. It is widely used for blend or sparkling wine, often in very poor quality. However, it is a pity because when carefully treated, it can provide high quality pleasant crispy wines enjoyable for every-day drinking. 

Grüner Veltliner 2015

dry

Spätlese (Late harvest)
12 % alc.
residual sugar: 1,4 g/l
acids: 5,9 g/l

Morava region, Velke Pavlovice subregion, wine village Velke Bilovice, vineyard Predni hora

This Grüner Veltliner 2015 comes from winery Skoupil, in the Velke Pavlovice subregion, wine village Velke Bilovice, vineyard Predni hora. Very nice location of vineyard at moderate slope, with lots of sunshine, on muck and loess soil. GV is typically harvested  in Kabinet Prädikat to produce dry and light wines, however the summer 2015 was very warm and the grape ripeness was higher, therefore this one falls into Spätlese (Late harvest).

Light yellow color, intense aroma with tones of green pepper, lemon and linden blossom. A lush palate, with notes of piquant pepper, green apples, lemon citrus, encouraged by lively acidity. The fresh brisk taste finishes with almonds and a slight touch of floral honey. Beautiful crispiness invites to another sip, this wine is a perfect refreshing choice for hot summer days.

This wine comes from a collection TERROIR, produced with an intent to emphasize the particular vineyard and its uniqueness. On the beautiful label you can find a map of the wine village, the particular vineyard is marked in yellow. Thanks to the decoration with the embossing technology, you can travel on the map with your finger discovering the local landscape. The map has lovely details – check out the cute little tractor! :)

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Wine Summer In South Moravia 🍷

Summer is underway – best way to have a good time during the warm nights is definitely with a glass of wine. If you are wondering how locals enjoy wine and what is the wine culture like in the Czech Republic, you are invited to explore our habits.

As already mentioned, South Moravia is the heart of wine production in the Czech Republic and wine is also widely consumed here. Inhabitants of Bohemia, in the Western part of the country, tend more to beer consumption and mostly contribute to the highest beer consumption of the Czech Republic in the world – unbelievable 144 litres per person. Compared to this, the wine consumption is really low, slightly over 20 litres per person per year but it has been growing rapidly in recent years. Thanks to the massive improvement of the wine quality since 1990’s, government campaign promoting local wines and expansion of specialized stores, the consumption is somewhat shifting from beer to wine also in Bohemia. A bunch of the small winemakers offer also accommodation or restaurant, therefore South Moravia is a popular local destination for summer holiday attracting tourists from the whole country.

The season for the wine lovers starts in April or May, when lots of wine competitions and exhibitions take place - exhausting events for the professionals but very enjoyable for public visitors. Also the wine tourist season starts – the winemakers are bottling new vintage and open their cellars for the visitors. Very popular events are the so called „opened cellars“ which take place in several wine villages. The winemakers open their cellars for public, even the little ones who don’t produce the wine for sale, invite the visitors in and let them taste their treasures. In the biggest wine village Velke Bilovice, this event is called „From cellar to cellar“ and is perfectly organized. You can buy entrance fee allowing to unlimited tasting of wines from 50 cellars and free transport between the cellars so you don’t have to care about driving :)

South Moravia is also very popular with cyclists – there are hundreds of kilometres of cycling paths, along the vineyards and rivers, with beautiful views from the hills. After the hard day it is always a pleasure to rest in the cellar with a glass of chilled wine. There are two options – you can choose from a typical Moravian little cellar of the winemaker or you can visit huge ancient cellars which are part of a few castles or chateaus. These offer educational tours but also traditional cultural evenings including live music with folklore cimbalom band inviting to sing and dance together. Of course 90% of the songs are about wine! Watch this video to get a better idea how the evening can look like.

The folklore has still a strong position in South Moravia and you can enjoy some traditional events also during summer. Most of the villages hold the so called „costumed feast“ celebrating the grain harvest. It is a feast of abundance, full of joy, good food and wine, music and dance. During the celebration the villagers are wearing the beautiful folk costumes presenting them in a parade. 

However, we have to wait till September for the most important feast of wine – grape harvest! We will shorten the waiting with a glass of wine – what about you?

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Small but diverse - wine regions in the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is located in the mild continental climate. The diversity of the weather as well as its changing through the year enables to grow the grapevines only in some parts of the country. Thanks to the changes of warm days and cold nights, the ripening of grapes is slowed down which helps to develop and concetrate a larger amount of different aromatic substances. The country is divided into two wine regions – Moravia and Bohemia. The Moravia wine region in the south-eastern part of the country contributes to 96 % of the total vineyards. The Bohemia region is created by fragmented vineyards around cities of Prague, Melnik and Litomerice on the banks of the river Labe (Elbe).

WINE REGION BOHEMIA

The wine region Bohemia consists of two parts – Melnik subregion and Litomerice subregion. Melnik subregion includes the city of Prague and Melnik as the most important wine areas which have a great importance primarily because of a long history. Nowadays there are mostly tourist vineyards due to a beautiful location on the slopes around the river Labe (Elbe) and Vltava (Moldau). Litomerice subregion is the smallest subregion counting only 300 ha of vineyards. The most significant wine village is Zernoseky renowned for their excellent whites.

Beautiful vineyard under Melnik chateau

WINE REGION MORAVIA

The wine region Moravia is located in the south-eastern part of the country, spreaded south from Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic, along the border with Austria and Slovakia. The climate is a bit warmer than in Bohemia with relatively low rainfall, on average between a half and two-thirds of the annual rainfall in Burgundy and Alsace at the same latitude, which has encouraged the expansion of organic viticulture. It is constituted of four parts – Velke Pavlovice subregion, Mikulov subregion, Znojmo subregion and Slovacko subregion.

Velke Pavlovice subregion is the biggest subregion but not typical - it is dominated by red grape varieties thanks to magnesium-rich soils and warm winds which facilitate the grape ripening. The prevailing soils are calcareous clay, marl and sandstone, the vineyard slopes have mostly south orientation. The most significant wine villages are Velke Bilovice (the biggest wine village in the Czech Republic with 700 ha of vineyards), Hustopece, Cejkovice, Rakvice, Kobyli, Boretice or Krumvir. The predominant grape varieties planted in this subregion are Blaufränkisch, St-Laurent, Blauer Portugieser, among the whites Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Gris or Gewürztraminer.

Vineyard near village Velke Bilovice

Mikulov subregion is situated around the city Mikulov and notable limestone massif of Palava Hills. The slopes in this area are appreciated as one of the best in the country – the calcareous soil gives a distinctive minerality to whites such as Welschriesling. The prevailing soils in Mikulov subregion are limestone, calcareous clay and sand, the vineyards are planted mostly with white grape varieties. The limestone-rich soil is granting the whites with pleasant freshness and crispiness. The most important grape varieties are Welschriesling, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Grüner Veltliner, Riesling or Gewürztraminer. Also the local grape Palava named after the Palava Hills is grown here, it was developed in wine village Perna in this subregion, so it is literally at home here. Another significant wine village is Valtice. There is a degustation exposition of the best-rated wines of the national competition of wines from the Czech Republic in the Valtice chateau. You can find here also the oldest wine school in the country. The chateau is a part of Lednice-Valtice Complex which is a popular tourist destination placed in UNESCO List. Among the biggest wine villages are also Mikulov, Strachotin, Dolni Dunajovice or Pavlov.

Slovacko subregion is the most diverse one – it is more fragmented than other Moravian subregions, therefore you can find there various soil types and climate influences. The prevailing soils are light soils, gravel but also clay. Altitude has also significant influence in this subregion – in its northern part the landscape is more hilly with higher located vineyards. The predominant grape varieties are Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Müller Thurgau, among the red ones Blaufränkisch, Zweigeltrebe and Cabernet Moravia. Cabernet Moravia is a local grape variety breeded in Slovacko subregion in wine village Moravska Nova Ves, also Moravian Muscat was breeded here in village Polesovice. Another significant villages are Bzenec, Breclav, Kyjov or Straznice. The area around Straznice is famous for its folklore festivals and traditions, you can find here numerous typical wine-cellars.

Typical Moravian wine cellar under ground

Znojmo subregion is the smallest part of the Moravia region, however it has a big importance in the viticulture of the Czech Republic. The city of Znojmo itself has a long tradition of winemaking, there is a complex of corridors and cellars under the city which were used for wine storage. The predominant soils are stony soil, clay, loess and gravel. At the southern part mostly white grapes are grown, typically Grüner Veltliner, Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc. The northern part is suitable for red varieties such as Blaufränkisch, Pinot Noir or St-Laurent. Besides Znojmo the most important wine villages are Novy Saldorf, Satov, Hrusovany or Dolni Kounice.

Have you noticed WineHills offer wines from all four Moravian subregions? Check our winelist >>>HERE

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Sources:

Kraus V., Foffová Z. a kol.: Nova encyklopedie ceskeho a moravskeho vina 1.dil, Praga Mystica

Kraus V., Foffová Z. a kol.: Nova encyklopedie ceskeho a moravskeho vina 2.dil, Praga Mystica

Robinson Jancis: The Oxford Companion to Wine, Fourth Edition, Oxford