Riesling from Mělník selected as the best wine in Bohemia

In the Czech Republic, wines from the Mělník wine sub-region dominated again this year, dominating all the main categories. Bettina Lobkowicz Winery won the white dry category for its Ryzlink Rýnský classic 2021, a Czech regional wine, along with the title of Championwines, the prize of a Seguin Moreau barrel from the Guild of Czech Winemakers and a special award from the Guild of Czech Winemakers for the highest scoring Riesling. Another great success was recorded by another winery in Mělník, Luděk Vondrák, which won two categories - white semi-dry and semi-sweet wines and dry red wines. The prize for the best collection went to the Czech University of Agriculture in Prague - ČZU Winery with an average of 88.3 points from a total of nine wine samples.

The champion was Riesling Classic 2021, a Czech regional wine from the Mělník winery Bettina Lobkowicz

"Our winning wine Ryzlink Rýnský 2021 dry comes from the Kriegerstein vineyard, Turbovice vineyard. The plantings are almost 30 years old, the soil profile is a poorly skeletal pararendzina on calcareous sandstones. Hand harvesting was carried out in particular to maintain sufficient acidity in the wine, which is always very important for our winery,' said Jonáš Grepl, representative of the Bettina Lobkowicz winery, adding: "The vinification was then carried out in stainless steel and the wine was aged for 6 months in bottle before being released to the market in order to obtain optimum ripeness and expression."

Champion and category winners:

Category A - dry white wines

• Champion and winner of the category.

Category B - white semi-dry and semi-sweet wines

• Winner of the category: Pinot Gris 2022, late harvest - Luděk Vondrák Winery

Category D - rosé wines and clarets

• Winner of the category: Pinot Noir Claret 2022, Czech regional wine - David Chocholatý Winery

Category E - dry red wines

• Winner of the category: Pinot Noir 2021 VOC Mělník - Luděk Vondrák Winery

Category G - quality sparkling wines

• Winner of the category.

Best Collection: Czech University of Agriculture in Prague - ČZU Winery

13 large gold, 27 gold and 3 silver medals

Three committees of wine experts evaluated 121 wines from the entire Czech wine region on 1 August in the cellar of the Czech Agricultural University in Mělník. The evaluated wines received a total of 13 large gold, 27 gold and 3 silver medals. 99 wines from the Bohemia wine region were nominated for the national round of the Wine Salon - National Wine Competition. The nominated wines will compete together with other advancing wines from the Moravia wine region for advancement to the finalle and the title of Absolute Champion and a place in the Wine Salon of the Czech Republic, a year-round wine tasting exhibition in Valtice. The main partner of the competition is BS Wine Supplies.

Wine exhibition for the public

Wines awarded in the competition will be available for tasting on Thursday, 10 August 2023 in the auditorium of the Czech University of Agriculture in Prague, Suchdol, from 4 to 9 pm. The presentation of wines made from grapes grown in the Bohemia wine region, including the Champion, the winners of each category and all medal winners are organised by the Guild of Czech Winemakers and will be presented to the tasters by the winemakers themselves.

Bohemia Wine Region

The Bohemia wine region offers, thanks to its large area of approximately 677 hectares of vineyards, an extraordinaryA wide variety of soil and climatic conditions and therefore a wealth of very interesting and unmistakable wines. The vineyards are scattered across Bohemia from picturesque vineyards in many places in Prague, through Beroun, Kutná Hora, Litoměřice and along the Elbe from Kuks, Mělník to Ústí nad Labem. The most successful varieties here are Müller Thurgau, Riesling, Pinot Noir and BiThe red varieties are Svatovavřinecké, Modrý Portugal, Zweigeltrebe and Rulandské modré.