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Selecting the best

Tasters cull a new set of choice local wines

By Helena Baker
For The Prague Post
October 4th, 2006 issue

Experts "suffer" through another grueling day: selecting wine for Mercure hotels.

As part of the French-based Accor Group, the Mercure hotel network has carved a reputation as a gastronomic haven with restaurants that pay more than lip service to the wines of the regions in which they are located. Back in 1983, the idea of Grands Vins Mercure came into being in order to give the entire chain access to some of the world's best wines at reasonable prices.

Over the past 25 years, the public has become far more knowledgeable on the subject and is no longer fooled by any old wine for any old price (i.e. the more expensive, the better). So, every year, a hundred or so experts — hotel managers, customers, sommeliers and journalists — meet either in Paris or at the Accor Casino by the lake in Bordeaux to make their wine selections for the following season.

It's a tough job, this Grands Vins Mercure.

Wines of the month

Local red: André 2004 pozdní sběr
Producer: ŠSV Velké Pavlovice, Moravia
André is a grape variety made by crossing Frankovka and Saint Laurent as the Czech answer to the Austrian Zweigeltrebe. It was crossed in this very winery, the
well-respected Moravian
experimental viticultural research station in Velké Pavlovice, and named in honor of the French fruit pioneer Christian K. André, a resident in Brno some hundred years ago. The wine itself is dark with a hint of mystery, having a nose of strawberry compote, while the palate is very reminiscent of damsons and other similar stone fruits, with a touch of licorice and even dark chocolate. Very nicely weighted with light tanins. (200 Kč/$8.95)

Foreign white: Chardonnay DO 2003
Producer: Marqués de Monistrol, Penedňs, Catalunya, Spain
This wine won't for a moment disappoint lovers of this most popular of white grape varieties. With its deep yellow hue and greenish tinges, it has an intense tropical fruit nose, with toasty elements so typical of Chardonnay in the modern style. The fruity palate reveals a full panoply of exotica, with pineapple and peach, grapefruit and buttered toast all vying for attention. The acidity is very slight, making this an uncontroversial choice for day-to-day drinking. (270 Kč)

October events diary
By now the weather will have all but decided the fate of this year's vintage, and harvest is well under way. In south Moravia one of the most famous grape-harvest festivals, Valtické Vinobraní, takes place Oct. 7 in Valtice, a picturesque UNESCO-designated town near the Austrian border. From noon, there will be a parade from the wine academy, with the grand opening of the festival in the main square at 2 p.m. The accompanying program includes open doors at local wine cellars and the sale of burčák, that still-fermenting, lightly alcoholic beverage so popular both here and in nearby Austria. Meanwhile, Austria will be sending a choir to help keep proceeedings flowing nicely. Everyone is expected to have a good time. For more information, e-mail vice@radnice-valtice.cz

Shortly after the Prague Mercure hotel opened on Na Poříčí (at the place where Franz Kafka was once employed as an insurance clerk), management decided to try the same concept on a local scale. Earlier this month I participated in the fourth edition of this Prague event, tasting some of the best local stock. Out of an original entry of more than 100 samples, a grand jury made up of the hotel's general manager, the food and beverage directors (including the chef), consultant Hynek Vich and myself selected seven wines that will be served alongside the classic French choices in the hotel's Felice Brasserie over the coming 12 months. These are: Veltlínské zelené (Grüner Veltliner) 2004 and Svatovavřinecké (Saint Laurent) 2004, both from Moravíno Valtice; Ryzlink rýnský (Riesling) 2005 from Mikrosvín Mikulov; Chardonnay 2004 and André 2004 (See below), both from Šlechtitelská Stanice Velké Pavlovice; Sauvignon Blanc from Tanzberg Mikulov; and finally, for dessert-lovers, a lush Tramín červený (Gewurztraminer) 2005 from Víno Marcinčák of Novosedly.

Winery of the month

Livi Dubňany — Sklep Šidleny

One of Miroslav Chytil's first acts in the wake of the Velvet Revolution was to secure a license to enter the wine business. Although by profession a chef, he had, like nearly all south Moravians, a close relationship with vineyards, having looked after his private family holding since finishing military service. LIVI was founded in his native Dubňany, 8 kilometers (5 miles) north of Hodonín. The enterprise proved such a success that it soon expanded to 50 hectares (120 acres), producing literally millions of bottles per year, not to mention a large range of soft drinks and distilled beverages. But he wanted to experiment and garner a pedigree of quality. So in nearby Šidleny, Chytil, along with son Jiří, built a smaller cellar to concentrate on a high-end product. It's a totally modern facility where yields per vine are kept low to increase intensity and concentration, picking grapes as late as possible, and it includes a microwinery at which a variety of "clever" enzymes and yeasts can be tried. This range is bottled and marketed under the upscale Šidleny label, and the results have already proved very encouraging. Šidleny Frankovka 2003 was a silver-medal winner recently at the Víno a Destiláty wine fair in Prague.

Helena Baker can be reached at features@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (4/10/2006):

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