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 Many people in other countries still feel surprised when I tell them that India makes wines- and that too of quite good quality now. Therefore, it is not surprising that a majority of Indian wine drinkers may also not be aware that countries like Czech Republic, a part of the former Czechoslovakia, make good quality wines too. In fact, this country under the thumb of communist regime in the significant part of the previous century has been making them for over a thousand years. A private tasting by the delWine Panel at Pullman Aerocity (#delWineatPullman) was an eye opener for most tasters who liked the wines so much that they were willing to buy instantly at least 3 out of the 7 wines tasted at this private tasting last Saturday.
Miroslava Saratova, Business manager of the Czech exporting company M & Bc Fiamoli s.r.o. and the Managing Director, Martina Fiamoli were in Delhi last week. They were also invited to help our panel understand the basics of Czech wine industry and the wines to be tasted.
Everything printed on the wine labels was in Czech language that would raise the eyebrows of FSSAI officials and rightly make them reject the shipment on sight. Miroslava (Mirka) started the tasting by sharing that samples arranged from the Embassy for the private tasting, were from the regular production lot. She said they were fully aware of the FSSAI rules and if and when they were finally imported into India, the labels would be changed to meet the Indian Specifications.
Brief history of Czech wines
One of the objectives of the delWine Tasting Panel is to dive and delve into the world of relative less known wines. With labels like TRAMÍN ČERVENÝ (Vinařství Krist) and FRANKOVKA (Templářské sklepy Čejkovice) one knew the tasting would be educational and fun. I was looking forward to it also because a couple of my Czech journalist friends and professional tasters in Europe had indicated that the producers of these wines were of repute and made very good quality wines.
 Martina gave a brief history of wines in Czech language, duly interpreted by Mirka, as the first wine was poured by Kriti Malhotra, the bubbly Sommelier at Pullman, who had arranged the set-up seamlessly and beautifully with the tapas platter that was eye candy for every taster. Czech Republic has a recorded history of wine production since 10th century AD, she said. It produces 660,000 hL of wine; 26 are white wines and 18 are red varieties with Gruünerveltliner as the most popular white wine. Consumption of wine is quite substantial at 18 liters per capita.
Czech wines went through a regressive period during the communist regime in the previous century when quality was sacrificed in favour of quantity. But since the 1990s there has been a revival with several historical wineries as well as many recent ones now being in the forefront. There are mainly two wine regions- Bohemia (and we thought it was known only for crystal glass manufacture!) a small region with only around 700 hA of cultivation with Moravia in the South having 17,500 hA, said Martina as wine from the first bottle was being poured.
Rating System
Based on my experience of judging at over 50 international wine competitions (53 to be exact), I have devised a simplified procedure to help tasters for #delWineatPullman panel find an easy way to rate the wines. It’s a 10-step, grading system with a possible rating of N (80), B‐ (84), B (85), B+(86), S-(87), S (88), S+ (89), G- (90), G (92), G+ (95) (signifying notional No medal, Bronze, Silver and Gold medals) each representing points on the 100-point scale that we use in all the competitions. The final ‘medal’ rating of each taster after discussion is converted back into points, averaged out and the consolidated rating re-calculated for each wine.
1. MÜLLER THURGAU (Zámecké Vinařství Bzenec)
Without getting too much into technicalities of labelling, we were told it was a wine from Bzenec winery (Vinařství), Zámecké being the equivalent of Domaine. A pleasant, aromatic wine with peachy flavour it was short with a slightly bitter end which was enhanced as the wine got warmer in the glass-underlying the importance to serve this wine chilled. This one merited a B from the group.
2. SAUVIGNON (Zámecké Vinařství Bzenec)
 By now we already knew that this was a Sauvignon Blanc from Bzenec Winery. Tropical notes with crisp and fresh flavour of gooseberry marked this wine. Quite vibrant and full in the mouth, this sweetly spiced wine had a divided opinion as some felt it did not have the authentic flavours of a Sauvignon Blanc. Rating B
3. PINOT Noir – Rose 2012 (Zámecké Vinařství Bzenec)
This salmon color aromatic wine with off-dry flavour changed the opinion of most of the panel about Czech wines. Absolutely delicious medium bodied wine with very soft and juicy tannins and a taste of strawberry impressed the palates of the panel instantly. The colour, aromas, flavour and the after-taste were all very positive and drew a lot of applause and exclamations. Rating G
4. FRANKOVKA (Templářské sklepy Čejkovice)
Made from the local variety grown also in many other European countries where it is known as Blaufränkisch, this wine made everyone converge to the opinion that Czech wines were truly good quality wines that were quaffable at the very least. Dark cherry colour with pleasant red fruit aromas coupled with smooth and spicy flavour with a shade of sweetness on the front palate and very soft and smooth tannins with juicy end, made this wine a darling of the panel and a tie-with the earlier Rosé. Rating G
5. TRAMÍN ČERVENÝ (Vinařství Krist)
The grape for this white wine is red (Cerveny) Traminer but the wine is white. The wine produced by Krist Winery is dark golden in colour with shades of green. Intense floral aromas, with plenty of roses on the nose and the spiciness of a Traminer marked this wine. Slightly off-dry, fruity and spicy wine with the residual sugar that felt like 12-16 gms/liter, it had full mouthfeel. It had a long end and was well balanced, making it a very impressive wine- certainly the white wine of the evening. Rating G-
6. RIESLING, Late harvest 2012 – Sanctus Victoria (Templářské sklepy Čejkovice)
Produced by the Templar winery in the town of Čejkovice, the wine was much less sweet than the previous wine. One sip and we realised it should have been tasted before the Traminer due to its much lower sweet mouthfeel. A wine with shades of minerality, it had pleasant aromas with shades of honey but less sweet than the earlier Riesling. Quite citrus and fresh on the nose. Rating B+
7. RIESLING, Late Harvest 2012 - Gold Collection (Templářské sklepy Čejkovice)
The wine from the same winery had light golden colour with sweet vanilla bouquet. It was quite harmonious but did not match up to the standard we were getting used to. Just like the earlier Riesling it ought to have been tasted earlier in the order. Vanilla dominated on the nose with a touch of roasted almonds. It was very fresh, mineral and pleasant in flavour with the typical acidity and raciness of Riesling. Rating S-
 There was a pleasant end for the tasters as the ladies had brought with them a bottle of cherry brandy to relish. This was truly a cherry on the top, with its smooth flavours and seductive aromas-with no clue for us about its origin or the producer. Just sip and savour!
The group rating given by the tasters above does not necessarily mean that the wines would win Gold and Silver medals in an international competition, though some may already have won. It may be unfair to use them for any commercial purposes but the emphasis is on the relative rating as judged by the panelists. The overall impression of the tasting by the delWine Panel, #delWineatPullman this evening was that it was an eye opener about Czech wines which were pleasant, had a character and personality of their own and were likely to find a respectable place in restaurant wine Menus and Retail- especially the Pinot, Frankovka and the Tramin.
Special thanks to the hospitality of Pullman Aerocity and their professional wine service and the delicious snacks which gave the tasters an opportunity to match different dishes with the wines if they liked or just savour the tapas the hotel is now famous for. Jai Ho to them and the two ladies- Martina and Mirka.
Subhash Arora |