Czech Republic wine
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Wine in the Czech Republic is produced mainly in southern Moravia, although a few vineyards are located in
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
. However, Moravia accounts for around 96% of the country's vineyards, which is why Czech wine is more often referred to as ''Moravian wine''. Production centers on local grape varieties, but there has been an increase in the production of established international strains such as
Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...
.


History

In the 2nd Century CE, the Roman 10th Legion based at Vindobona built an extensive outpost near the
Amber Road The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Prehistoric trade routes between Northern and Southern Europe were defined by the amber trade. ...
and the Pálava Hills in Mikulovská, near the present-day village of
Pasohlávky Pasohlávky (german: Weißstätten) is a municipality and village in Brno-Country District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 700 inhabitants. It is a summer resort at the Nové Mlýny Reservoir. Geography Pasohlávk ...
. Around the year 278, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Probus annulled the edict of
Emperor Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 â€“ 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavi ...
that had prohibited the planting of grapes in colonies north of the Alps, and encouraged the planting of new vines in the northern Roman colonies. Modern-day archaeological excavations of the ancient Roman outpost near Pasohlávky have yielded many artifacts, including a vine pruning knife. Wine historians theorize that, during the Roman occupation, the Grüner Veltliner and Welschriesling grape varieties may have been introduced to the region. Viticulture was practiced during the
Great Moravian Empire Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...
(833–906), as evidenced by numerous pruning knives and grape seeds unearthed during archaeological excavations of Slavic settlements.
Wine of Czech Republic: History of Wine in Czech Republic
'', Accessed: June 29, 2011
Around 875, according to legend, the Great Moravian Prince
Svatopluk Svatopluk (in modern Czech) or Svätopluk (in modern Slovak) is a Slavic given name. It may refer to: People *Svatopluk I of Moravia (c. 840–894), prince of Great Moravia from 870/871 to 894 * Svätopluk II (died c. 906), a son of Svatopluk I, pr ...
sent the Bohemian Prince Bořivoj a barrel of wine to celebrate the birth of his son Spytihněv. Bořivoj's wife Ludmila sacrificed some of the wine to Krosyně (goddess of the harvest) while making a plea for abundant rain. Her wish came true, the crop was saved and Bořivoj and Ludmila planted the first Bohemian vineyards around Mělník. Their grandson Saint Wenceslas later learned how to cultivate vines in these vineyards and make wine. He is honored by Czech winemakers as "Supremus Magister Vinearum" (Supreme Burgomaster of the Vineyards) and every year at the end of September a wine festival is held in Mělník on Feast of St. Wenceslas. During the 13th century, monasteries helped to establish large vineyard areas which were planted with grape varieties imported from France and Germany. The vine training and pruning methods of these countries were also adopted. The vineyard groupings made it easier to maintain the vineyards, protect against thieves, and to collect tithe payments and taxes during the harvest. In 1249, Ottokar II of Bohemia granted the land of Mikulov (then called Nikolsburg) and the surrounding area to the Austrian noble Henry I of Liechtenstein. Afterward, more vineyards were planted in the Pálava Hills. In 1309, a new set of viticultural and winemaking regulations was established for many southern Moravian villages, based on the application of Bergrecht laws and vineyard rules of
Falkenstein, Lower Austria Falkenstein is a town in the district of Mistelbach in the Austrian state of Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the n ...
in the district of Mikulov. For those villages under the jurisdiction of the Falkenstein Bergrecht, Falkenstein served as the Supreme Appeals Court in vineyard disputes. By 1368, Mikulov was one of the largest wine centres in Moravia. In 1414, a large number of the vineyards around Mikulov and Valtice were documented in the Liechtenstein Duties Register, later to become the oldest preserved register of the Liechtenstein vineyards. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) destroyed a significant portion of the vineyards in Moravia, and over the next hundred years they were gradually replanted. In 1763, Austrian vintners asked
Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...
to limit new vineyard plantings in Moravia to reduce the competition from Moravian wines. In 1783, the local Bergrecht laws and the activities of the wine regulation court in Moravia were abolished by
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 unt ...
and replaced with a new set of vineyard regulations for Moravia. Wine academies, dedicated to training capable enologists in the art and science of winemaking, were founded in Bzenec (1855), Znojmo (1868), Valtice (1873), Mělník (1882), Lednice (1895), Mikulov (1903) and Klobouky (1921). The vine pest
Phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belong to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs ...
arrived in
Å atov Å atov (german: Schattau) is a market town in Znojmo District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,100 inhabitants. Å atov lies approximately south of Znojmo, south-west of Brno, and south-east of Prague. Notable ...
in 1890, Mikulov and
Dolní Dunajovice Dolní Dunajovice (german: Unter Tannowitz) is a municipality and village in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,700 inhabitants. History The first written mention of Dunajovice is from 1183. In the ...
in 1900, struck
Perná Perná is a municipality and village in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 800 inhabitants. Perná lies approximately north-west of Břeclav, south of Brno, and south-east of Prague Prague ...
in 1901, and hit
Horní Věstonice Horní Věstonice (german: Oberwisternitz) is a municipality and village in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. Horní Věstonice lies approximately north-west of Břeclav, south o ...
and
Bavory Bavory (german: Pardorf) is a municipality and village in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bo ...
in 1902, devastating the vineyards throughout Moravia. Using Phylloxera-resistant rootstock, the vineyards were replanted with quality vines of single varietals. The establishment of modern wine laws in the Czech Republic began in 1995 with the enactment of Wine Act No. 115/1995 on viticulture and winemaking practices into the Collection of Laws (Sb). The wine section of the European Union regulations was translated into Czech and subsequently incorporated into the Wine Act. The original draft of the Amendment to the Wine Act also contained provisions for establishing the Czech Wine Fund through Act No. 50/2002 Sb. After the Czech Republic joined the European Union in 2004, the Wine Act No. 321/2004 Sb on viticulture and winemaking practices was adopted, bringing Czech wine legislation into conformity with EU standards.


Regions

Czech wine law (2004) defines two wine-growing regions (Czech: ''Vinařská oblast''). These are Moravia (''Vinařská oblast Morava'') and Bohemia (''Vinařská oblast Čechy'').
Czech Wine Fund: Viticulture Act of 2004
'', (Czech), Accessed: June 26, 2011


Moravia

Wine production in the Czech Republic centers on southern Moravia, particularly around the river
Dyje The Thaya ( cs, Dyje ) is a river in Central Europe, the longest tributary to the river Morava. Its drainage basin is . It is ( with its longest source river German Thaya) long and meanders from west to east in the border area between Lower Au ...
. Four wine growing sub-regions (Czech: ''Vinařská podoblast'') are located here, each named after a major town or region. These sub-regions are: Wine production intertwined with the local culture made Moravia a key wine tourism destination in Czech Republic. Established in 1999, Moravian Wine Trail is a unique project designed to protect cultural heritage and encourage further development of wine tourism in the region. The trail covers almost 300 towns and villages in the Moravian region inter-connected by a network of cycling routes. The Czec
National Wine Centre
and Wine Salon of the Czech Republic in Valtice Castle are located in Moravian wine country.


Bohemia

Bohemia is home to a relatively tiny collection of vineyards that are among the most northerly in Europe. They are situated around 50° north latitude, the same as Wiesbaden in the
Rheingau The Rheingau (; ) is a region on the northern side of the Rhine between the German towns of Wiesbaden and Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the Western Taunus to the Rhine. It is situated in the German state of Hesse and is part of the Rheing ...
. Two defined wine-growing subregions are located in Bohemia: Small vineyards can be found in Prague, but they do not produce a significant amount of wine. The top five grape varieties grown in Bohemia are
Müller-Thurgau Müller-Thurgau is a white grape variety (sp. ''Vitis vinifera'') which was created by Hermann Müller from the Swiss Canton of Thurgau in 1882 at the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute in Germany. It is a crossing of Riesling with Madeleine R ...
(26% of vineyards), Riesling (16% of vineyards), St. Laurent (14% of vineyards),
Blauer Portugieser Blauer Portugieser is a red Austrian, Slovenian wine, Croatian wine and German wine grapeJ. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 542 Oxford University Press 2006 found primarily in the Rheinhessen, Pfalz and wine re ...
(10% of vineyards), and
Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...
(8% of vineyards).
Wine of Czech Republic: Statistics and Charts
'', Accessed: June 26, 2011


Largest wine municipalities

As of 2018, the following wine municipalities were the largest:


Grape varieties

The most commonly grown grape varieties in the Czech Republic, including the approximate percentage of wine produced for each variety, are listed below:


Wine festivals

The wine-producing areas of the Czech Republic are well known for their
wine festivals Annual wine festivals celebrate viticulture and usually occur after the harvest of the grapes which, in the northern hemisphere, generally falls at the end of September and runs until well into October or later. They are common in most wine regio ...
(Czech: ''vinobraní'') which take place around
harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...
time in September. The biggest of these festivals in Znojmo, Mikulov,
Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
and Mělník will feature samples of hundreds of local wines as well as local music, dancing and
cuisine A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, customs, and ingredients combine to ...
. These wine-festivals take place in big towns apart from the wine-producing areas as well (such as Prague).


Classification

Czech wine law classifies wine according to the origin of the grapes and the
ripeness of the grapes In viticulture, ripeness is the completion of the ripening process of wine grapes on the vine which signals the beginning of harvest. What exactly constitutes ripeness will vary depending on what style of wine is being produced ( sparkling, still, ...
determined by measuring the must weight in the grape juice at the time of harvest. Sugar content is expressed in units of °NM on the Czecho-Slovak Normalised Must-Weight Scale (Czech: '' Normalizovaný moštoměr''), which indicates how many kilograms of sugar are contained in one hundred litres of grape juice. One degree on the NM scale is equivalent to one kilogram of natural sugar in 100 litres of grape must. Czech wine is typically labeled with its variety, detailed description of its origin, and wine quality attributes. In general, wine produced from grapes with a higher must-weight level and from a single vineyard is considered higher quality.


Origin specification

A Czech wine label will typically specify the wine's origin with one or more of the following terms: * Vinařská oblast – (Region) e.g. ''Morava'' (Moravia) * Vinařská podoblast – (Subregion) e.g. ''Velkopavlovická'' (Velké Pavlovice) * Vinařská obec – (Municipality) * Trať – (Vineyard)


Composition and Quality Attributes

A Czech wine label must contain one of the following terms that designates its classification: 1. Jakostní víno s přívlastkem ( Quality Wine with Special Attributes) : Wine must originate from a single wine sub-region and the grape varieties, their origin, must-weight levels, and weight must be verified by the Czech State Agricultural & Food Inspectorate (SZPI).
Chaptalisation Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape must in order to increase the alcohol content after fermentation. The technique is named after its developer, the French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal. This process is no ...
is not permitted. 2. Jakostní víno (Quality wine) : Wine produced from grapes grown in the Czech Republic within a single wine region. Yields must not exceed 12 tons/hectare and must-weight levels must be no less than 15 °NM. : Jakostní víno odrůdové (Quality Varietal Wine) :: Wine made from at most three grape varieties : Jakostní víno známkové (Quality Brand Wine) :: Wine that is a blend ( cuveé) of at least two grape varieties 3. Moravské zemské víno or České zemské víno (Country wine) : Wine produced from grapes originating from the Czech Republic, must-weight levels must be no less than 14 °NM.Zemské víno , Znalec vín (in Czech)
/ref> 4. Stolní víno ( Table wine) : Wine produced from grapes originating from any country in the EU. This is the lowest wine category.


Appelation (VOC)

In the late 2000s, in parallel with the origin and the composition and quality attributes, system the appelleation-based system was introduced - vína originální cetrifikace (VOC, wines of original certification). Following VOCs are certified as of 2019:


Notes


References


External links


Official Czech Wine Industry Website






{{Wine by country