In just a few more weeks we will be tasting Saint Martin’s Wines (Svatomartinská vína) vintage 2012

Hand in hand with the interests of the consumer are those of the wine producer. Winemakers who are engaged in the Saint Martin’s project increase their production every year. It is gratifying to see that further producers are joining in, including both the most cautious and the most conservative ones. Saint Martin’s wines are thus a singular success. When the Wine Fund introduced the Saint Martin’s trade mark for the very first time onto the market in 2005, just 36 wineries registered. Last year there were already 125 wine-producing entities who registered their interest and, after undergoing a most rigorous evaluation at the National Wine Centre, 365 samples were approved. One may expect that this record will once more be breached. According to the preliminary number of applications received to be allowed to use the “Svatomartinské“ logo this year, there are approximately 150 wine companies and other winemakers who will enter as many as 500 samples of their new wine and will contribute some 2,200,000 bottles of Saint Martin’s wines from this vintage.

The novelty of this year’s vintage will be the obligation to deposit samples of each wine which bears the Saint Martin’s trademark. The Wine Fund, as the holder of the Saint Martin’s trade mark, will thus have better control throughout the course of the sale of Saint Martin’s wines, being to carry out regular spot checks in order to verify whether the wine on sale really corresponds to both the qualitative and sensoric character of the wine that was initially approved to represent the Saint Martin’s brand.

“Ever since the year 2005, when the Wine Fund unveiled the Saint Martin’s trademark to the public it has become, and I do not fear to say this, a national phenomenon that literally, for at least a few weeks, transforms the entire Czech Republic. Releasing Saint Martin’s wines onto the market offers the first opportuniy to taste wines from the new vintage and assess just how our winemakers were blessed by mother nature during the wine’s creation. Naturally it also gives us enormous pleasure to see how Saint Martin‘s wines open the doors to the beautiful world of wine even to those people who would otherwise find their way to them much later or with greater difficulty,“ said the director of the Wine Fund, Ing. Jaroslav Machovec.

Saint Martin‘s Wines

Saint Martin’s wines are the first wines emanating from the new vintage. It is about wines that are both fresh and fruity, which have matured for only a few weeks but during this time they have already acquired their distinctive character.


Wines carrying the “Svatomartinské“ trademark may only be produced from the following grape varieties:

• White wine – permitted grape varieties: Müller-Thurgau, Frühroter Veltliner and Moravian Muscat
Standard characteristics: pleasant, well-balanced, fresh and fruity dry wine

• Rosé wine – permitted grape varieties: Blauer Portugieser and Saint Laurent
Standard charateristics: pleasing, easy-drinking, fruity dry wine

• Red wine – permitted grape varieties: Blauer Portugieser and Saint Laurent
Standard characteristics: smooth velvety dry wine as a result of malolactic fermentation, possibly having undergone carbonic maceration

These specific grape varieties were selected for the Saint Martin’s brand because in our climatic conditions their grapes ripen early therefore offering the required standard of quality at the right time. Among Saint Martin’s wines one finds wines from a single grape variety as well as blends or cuvées, which are wines produced from more than one grape variety.

Saint Martin’s wine is by no means all the young wine that the winemaker is capable of producing prior to 11th November. Furthermore it has to correspond to the given grape variety. Saint Martin’s wines must first undergo a test by an independent committee to certify whether or not the sensoric parameters of the wine correspond to the required characteristics. Thus the Saint Martin’s trademark can only be borne by Moravian or Czech wines which fulfil all the required criteria. This year the committee will sit on 25th October and on 1st November 2012, and by approximately 2nd November 2012 it will be known which wines will be allowed to bear the logo of Saint Martin on his white horse from 11th November onwards.

The main grape-picking season began in early September. At the time of writing about 75 % of the entire grape harvest has been accomplished.

“As far as the quantity is concerned, we are predicting around 30% less than the ten-year average, which is due to adverse winter weather and sudden mid-May frosts. As to the quality of the grapes, the course of the season, mainly summer, was most favourable and all indications are that the 2012 vintage will belong among the above-average one,“ intimates the winemakers‘ expectations Ing. Martin Půček, Secretary to the Union of Winemakers of the Czech Republic.

The opening of the first bottle of the new “Svatomartinské“ will take place just like every year on the Feast of Saint Martin on 11th November at 11 am at festive celebrations in Bohemia, in Moravia, in winebars and restaurants around the whole country and more and more often in private households. Each year, it should be noted, Saint Martin’s wines are gaining increasing popularity abroad, e.g. in Slovakia, Austria, Germany, and not infrequently they can be found in more exotic destinations.

The “Svatomartinské“ (Saint Martin) trademark was initially registered in 1995 and since 2005 it has become the property of the Wine Fund. Thus this year’s edition marks the eighth time the promotion of these wines has been organised in conjunction with the National Wine Centre under a unified logo. The “Saint Martin’s“ trademark may be used by all wine producers registered in the Czech Republic who fulfil all the demanding criteria required.


For more information please contact:

Ing. Jaroslav Machovec, Vinařský fond ČR (Wine Fund of the Czech Republic)
E-mail: machovec@vinarskyfond.cz
Tel: +420 606 645 470

Ing. Pavel Krška, Národní vinařské centrum, o.p.s. (National Wine Centre)
E-mail: pavel.krska@vinarskecentrum.cz
Tel: +420 519 352 072, +420 721 414 575

Ing. Martin Půček, Svaz vinařů ČR (Union of Winemakers of the Czech Republic)
E-mail: martin.pucek@svcr.cz
Tel: +420 519 348 981, +420 606 743 231

Daniel Kříž, Omnimedia, s.r.o.
E-mail: d.kriz@omnimedia.cz
Tel: +420 221 419 220, +420 728 602 304

More about wines and wine-related activities can be found on: www.wineofczechrepublic.cz and www.svatomartinskevino.cz

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