Best wine in Czech Republic
Straddled by Germany, Austria, Poland and Slovakia, the Czech Republic has a unique and tumultuous history, with fertile soils, lush woodlands and a capital city prized and fought over for thousands of years. Wine has played a key role in the nation’s identity for centuries, with wine festivals, holidays and customs still deeply entwined with daily life. As with the rest of Europe, phylloxera put a major halt to production at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The 20th-century socialist period saw a recovery of vineyard planting and production, though the focus was on quantity over quality, with an increase in yield and the introduction of mechanisation. Viticulture and variety plantings were prescriptive under a centralised system, with wineries under state ownership. While international varieties were planted, this was also a period of innovation with new hybrid varieties (PIWIs) bred, including pálava, an aromatic blend of traminer and müller-thurgau.
Bohemia wine region
The country is divided into two wine regions. Bohemia produces just four per cent of the total wine production. At 50° latitude, it’s one of Europe’s most northern wine regions. Wines produced here have the capacity for detail and elegance. Müller-thurgau, riesling and pinot noir are the most planted varieties. Interestingly, pinot noir was introduced to the country during the ‘golden age of Czech winemaking’ by the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, Charles IV. Burgundian-style terraces in this region are inscribed with ‘Chambertin 1348’, indicating where the original clonal material was sourced.
Moravia wine region
Most wine production is in the southern region of Moravia. The four subregions of Znojmo, Velké Pavlovice, Mikulov, and Slovácko each focus on different key grapes, predominantly aromatic varieties, thanks to the high diurnal range. A visit to the Mikulov area enables access to the fantastic Regional Museum Mikulov, which includes the second-largest Renaissance barrel in Europe and a fantastic permanent winemaking exhibition. The nearby town of Valtice is home to the Wine Salon of the Czech Republic. Set in the cellars of a Baroque chateau, the exhibition changes annually to offer the 100 top wines in the country, as judged by an esteemed selection of Czech palates appointed by the National Wine Centre and the Czech Grape and Wine Producers’ Association. A visit provides an excellent educational experience, and the ability to taste many wines in one place is a great grounding in the current landscape of Czech wine.
Approximately 1500 wines are entered each year, and as is the case with all wine competitions, not every winery enters, either due to choice or eligibility. Vojteˇch Matoušek, one of the Salon’s sommeliers, shares: “This year, we had 240 producers enter. The prestige of winning can make a big difference to them”. Wines are judged in three rounds according to structure, body, balance, ageing potential, complexity, intensity and the typicity of aroma and taste. Matoušek also adds that the judges’ tastes evolve. “Tastes change. Many next-generation judges and winemakers are looking to more international winemaking styles with oak ageing. Previously, it was largely stainless steel.” He adds that although it is seventh in the medal tally at the Salon, “pálava is the most popular wine in the Czech Republic for consumers, and it is almost all semi-sweet in style”.
Cycling in the Czech Republic
One of the joys of Czech wine tourism is its supreme cycle-friendliness. Many wineries have mid-vineyard tasting huts staffed specifically for cyclists, in addition to winery tasting rooms and cellars. Base yourself at Chateau de Frontiere, set amongst the UNESCO World-listed Lednice-Valtice area, which borders Austria and, at 283 square kilometres, is considered the largest composed landscape in Europe. While the spa is a dream for weary bodies (bike saddle or wine-induced), the real drawcard is the location and the onsite wining and dining. While the wine list and menu at the fine dining restaurant ESSENS is in the waiting line for a Michelin star, the à la carte Chateau Petit shines with the creative, no-waste mindset of chef David Viktorin. The wine and food of a place are intrinsically linked, and it is easy to understand how these aromatic, high-acid, mineral-driven wines, oft with residual sweetness, fit alongside traditional Czech cuisine. Chateau Petit’s smart wine list is in the astute hands of young gun sommelier Nikola Stepankova, whose drive for wine started in high school and whose palate and thirst for knowledge have led to fast progression in the industry.
Czech pinot noir
Over a glass of bright pinot noir with earthy undertones, one of the best reds I tasted during my visit, she explained her insights into the current state of the industry and why there is a dominance of particular wines on Czech lists. “Czech people are looking for value and wines that are easy to drink.” Customers regularly ask for a wine that is low in acid yet high in sugar because of a fear of acid. She shares that this was not a discussion 20 years ago; it’s a recent phenomenon fuelled by a lack of wine education and experience in tasting balanced wines. “The fear of acid is based on cheap, entry-level wines. I have guests asking for specific grams of acid or sugar in their wine due to miseducation that people gain from their experience drinking cheap wines and associating the levels of acid and sugar to their unpleasant experience.”
Czech Republic wine labels
Interestingly, wine labels in the Czech Republic usually list the appellation, producer, variety, whether it is dry (suché), off dry (polosuché), semi-sweet (polosladké) or sweet (sladké), quality classification, alcohol, and over the last couple of years, sugar and acid levels. “People are also asking for the traditional Czech quality markers of bunch or grape selection, but this doesn’t always equate to a balanced wine.” Labelling laws fall under the EU regulations. PGI wine must be from an authorised variety, harvested with minimum sugar levels, and labelled either “Moravian” or “Czech” (Bohemian) land wine. PDO wines include the subregion and can be labelled as Quality Wine, which limits yield and variety and has higher minimum sugar levels. Quality Predicated Wine must, in addition to the Quality level list subregions and subcategories based on sugar levels at harvest: Kabinet, Late-harvest, grape selection, berry selection, ice wine, straw wine and botrytised berries. Wine of Certified Origin (VOC) is similar to AOC, with strict guidelines based on terroir and typicity.
Winemakers who harvest on other markers, such as phenolics and acidity, may not label their wines under these quality levels if the sugar requirements are unmet. Stepankova believes it plays an important role in the dogma that surrounds sweetness and good vs bad quality wine. “People ask if it is late harvest or bunch selection, as there is a perception of quality and balance from those classifications. That it equals good winemaking. The reality is it won’t necessarily live up to the expectation just because of the grape ripeness.”
Czech Republic riesling
Of course, there are many outstanding wines that do fit neatly into the classic wine classifications, yet with increased access to international benchmark wines, producers want to make dry wines. Add climate change into the mix, and you can have high-sugar wines picked for a quality classification yet fermented to the drier end of the spectrum. The result? Rising alcohol levels and a broader, richer and riper flavour spectrum. Matoušek adds, “The change is due to climate and wine-making preferences; we have more sun. Five years ago, alcohol levels would start at 12 per cent; now they start at 13 per cent. Educated wine consumers with international palates want less sugar, which means higher alcohol.”
There certainly are producers focused on crafting wines of terroir, energy, complexity, and balance, and consumers with broader wine experience are looking for these wines. The best wines are filled with freshness and character, abundant aromatics, fresh acidity, minerality, phenolic texture and age-worthiness. Most importantly, they speak of place and the producer’s care for the land and the handling of grapes, and often use wild yeast instead of the standardised inoculated strains. Many of these producers would fall into the ‘natural’ category, though that is by far a generalised and polarising manner of identification. Grape breeding and PIWI experimentation are exciting and offer the possibility of more sustainable viticultural practices with grapes bred for pest and disease resistance.
The Czech Republic’s wines are little known outside the country, which is understandable given that only a fraction of production is exported. As diversity, tradition, climate change, global influence, and the evolution of consumer preference develop its wine identity, there has never been a better time for wine enthusiasts to visit before the rest of the world catches on.
Wine in Czech Republic*
Latitude: 49°N–50°N
Czech Republic regions: Bohemia consists of two major subregions: Mělník and Litoměřice. Moravia has four recognised subregions: Znojmo, Velké Pavlovice, Mikulov, and Slovácko.
Key varieties in the Czech Republic: White varieties account for over 70 per cent of all plantings. Grüner veltiner, müller-thurgau, riesling, welschriesling, pinot gris, chardonnay, and sauvignon blanc are the most planted whites, though pálava and traminer are on the rise. Blaufränkisch, saint laurent, zweigelt and pinot noir are the dominant red varieties, though climate change is leading more producers to consider late-ripening varieties such as syrah.
Czech Republic climate: Continental, though summers can have days of heat intensity.
Czech Republic soils: The southern regions were formed on marine and freshwater sediment, with subregions ranging from calcareous to gravel, sandy alluvial soils, and heavier, fertile clay-rich soils. Bohemian soils in the north range from marlstone and basalt to heavier clay.
Hectares under vine in the Czech Republic: 17,925 (17,241 in Moravia)
Number of growers in the Czech Republic: 14,640
Export: Three per cent, mostly organic producers
*Statistics as per 2020, from the Czech National Wine Centre.
