Czech wine

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Many regions of the Czech Republic have large wine producing areas. Production centres around local grape varieties, but there has been a recent increase in the production of established international strains such as Cabernet Sauvignon. Although Czech wines are not particularly well-known on the wider international market, they are popular domestically and in neighbouring countries.

Wine cellar in Chvalovice, near Znojmo, Czech Republic.

Contents

1 Regions

1.1 Moravia
1.2 Bohemia

2 Grape varieties

2.1
2.2 White

3 Wine festivals
4 Identification

4.1 Origin specification
4.2 Composition

5 External links

Regions

Moravia

Wine production on the Czech Republic centres around the southern region of Moravia and particularly around the River Danube. Indeed, the area around the four towns of Velké Pavlovice, Mikulov, Znojmo and Slovácko provide 94% of the Czech Republic's total wine-producing acreage. Wine from this region is labelled according to the four regions centred around each of the towns named previously.

Bohemia

The northern region of Bohemia is home to a smaller collection of vineyards, which are predominantly sited on three tributaries of the River Elbe - the Labe, Vltava and Berounka. Production here focuses on white wines produced from grape varieties such as Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Blanc (Czech: Rulandské bílé) and Gewürztraminer (Czech: Tramín červený) and Grüner Veltliner (Czech: Veltínské zelené.

Grape varieties

The most commonly grown varieties of grape in the Czech Republic include the following (Czech translations given in italics, followed by the percentage of vineyard planting given over to that variety):

Svatovavřinecké - Saint Laurent, 9% of vineyard planting
Frankovka - Lemberger, 5.6%
Zweigeltrebe, 4.7%
Rulandské modré - Pinot Noir, 4%
Modrý Portugal - Blauer Portugieser, 3.9%
Cabernet Sauvignon, 1.3%

White

Ryzlink rýnský grapes

Müller Thurgau, 11.2% of vineyard planting
Veltínské zelené - Grüner Veltliner, 11%
Ryzlink vlašský - Welschriesling, 8.5%
Ryzlink rýnský - Riesling, 7%
Sauvignon blanc, 5%
Rulandské bílé - Pinot Blanc, 5%
Chardonnay, 4%
Rulandské šedé - Pinot gris, 3.7%
Tramín červený - Gewurztraminer, 3%
Neuburské - Neuburger, 2.3%
Muškát moravský - Moravian Muscat, 1.8%
Veltlínské červené rané - Frühroter Veltliner, 1.7%
Irsai Oliver, 0.4%

Wine festivals

The wine-producing areas of the Czech Republic are well-known for their wine festivals (Czech: slavnosti vina) which take place around harvest time in September. The biggest of these festivals in Znojmo, Mikulov, Brno and Mělník will feature samples of hundreds of local wines as well as local music, dancing and cuisine.

Identification

Two bottles of Moravian wine (an Irsai Oliver and a Cabernet Moravia), showing the usual labelling for geographical origin

Czech wine will usually come labelled with its variety, as well as detailed description of its origin.

Origin specification

Typically, the label will specify the wine's origin with the following terms

vinařská oblast - region, e.g. Morava (Moravia)
vinařská podoblast - subregion e.g. Velkopavlovická (Velké Pavlovice)
vinařská obec - municipality/village
trať - vineyard

Composition

The types of wine is usually labelled with one of the following terms:

stolní víno - table wine
jakostní víno - quality wine
odrudové víno - wine of at least 85% single-variety grapes
víno s přívlastkem - wine of at least 90% single-variety grapes
známkové víno - cuveé, blend of at least two grape varieties
révové víno - grape wine (to distinguish it from other fruit wines)

External links

Wine by country

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