News

The 23rd edition of the prestigious wine competition Cuvée Ostrava took place in April 2025 – and of course, ZEBRA WINES was there to represent South Africa. We entered four exceptional wines into the competition – and every single one of them was awarded a gold medal by both the professional jury and the public panel. This is not only a great success for us, but a powerful sign that South African wines have found a strong fan base among Czech wine lovers.

Four Wines – Four Golds

This year, we presented the following wines at the competition:

• Miss Lucy 2023 – Springfield Estate
  A bright and refreshing white blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Pinot Gris. Well-structured, full of energy and character. A great match with fish and seafood dishes.
• The Chocolate Block 2022 – Boekenhoutskloof
  A cult red wine from Franschhoek, known for its rich complexity and depth. A blend of five varieties with intense notes of dark fruit, chocolate and spice.
• Spier Cap Classique Brut NV – Spier Wines
  Traditional method sparkling wine from Stellenbosch. Fine bubbles, delicate citrus aromas and a beautifully mineral finish. Perfect as an aperitif or for festive toasts.
• Spier Creative Block 5 2021 – Spier Wines
  An elegant Bordeaux-style blend that has consistently received international recognition. Deep color, bold structure, and a long finish – ideal with game or grilled meats.

Recognition That Speaks Volumes

Winning a gold medal is a wonderful achievement in itself. But to receive it from two independent panels – one of experts and one of wine-loving visitors – is something truly special. It shows that our wines not only impress seasoned sommeliers, but also appeal to everyday wine enthusiasts who enjoy their glass without overanalyzing every note.

This "double gold" reinforces our mission: to bring wines to the Czech Republic and Europe that combine quality, character and accessibility for a wide audience.

South African Wines on the Rise

This success also highlights the growing popularity of South African wines. More and more professionals and adventurous wine drinkers are discovering the region’s unique terroirs and passionate winemakers. Estates like Springfield, Spier, and Boekenhoutskloof are leading the way – often working in harmony with nature and tradition, with sustainability at the heart of everything they do.

Thank You – and See You Next Year

We want to thank the organizers of Cuvée Ostrava for a professionally run event and fantastic atmosphere. And above all, we thank everyone who came to taste and vote. We’re delighted you enjoyed our wines – and we promise to return next year with something equally exciting.

Are there any wines from South Africa missing from your offer?

There is no shortage of Old World wines on offer in our restaurants - in particular, wines from France and Italy can be found on most wine lists. The representation of New World wines is a little less well represented. There are wines mainly from South America, and marginally from Australia or New Zealand.

But why should you overlook wines from another New World region - South Africa? This region has much to offer. It has a unique climate that is very favourable for growing a wide variety of grape varieties and making wine.

Don't be discouraged by the misconception that South African wines are only cheap and of poor quality. The opposite is true. South African wineries have a long and rich history and with expert care and modern technology produce a wide range of exceptional wines.

Why South African wines from ZEBRA WINES?

The range of South African wines on the market is quite large, but they are not all the same, especially in terms of quality. ZEBRA WINES has long specialised in the market with the import of wines from South Africa. Thanks to our long-standing relationships with local winemakers, we have been able to import the best South African wines that are appreciated by both ordinary consumers and professionals.

Our team regularly selects and tests wines from a wide range directly in South Africa. Thanks to our care and experience, we can guarantee that the wines you get from ZEBRA WINES are truly top quality. We would therefore like to welcome you to For Gastro and Hotel, where you can try our range for yourself.

Which South African wines to choose?

If you decide to expand your wine list to include wines from South Africa, you probably won't find it easy to choose. But don't worry, we're here to help. We'll be happy to advise you and offer you the opportunity to taste a selection of our most popular South African wines.

So feel free to come and visit us at For Gastro and Hotel. We are confident that we will have something for everyone and that South African wines are the perfect accompaniment to any cuisine.

What is Talamo

The winery Terre di Talamo, part of the family business Bacci Wines, boasts an exceptional cuvée called Talamo. This wine, which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah, is classified as a Gran Toscana.

Talamo has been a stalwart of our range for several years now and we have experience with the 2016 to 2019 vintages. Whatever the vintage, Talamo is always one of the best we have to offer and we are happy to return to it. Recently, however, we had the opportunity to sample something completely new.

On 15 June 2022, winemaker Marco Bacci of Terre di Talamo winery unveiled his latest attempt to push the boundaries of winemaking - Talamo a Mare. This is a wine that has spent a whole year maturing under the sea.

What led Marco to this unusual experiment? Like all brilliant ideas, this one was born by chance. One day he discovered a bottle of wine that had been forgotten in the galley of his sailboat. When he opened it, he was surprised at how different the taste and aroma were from the bottles he had opened on land. And so Talamo a Mare was born.

THE SECRET OF AGING WINE UNDER THE SEA

The magic with the sea and the wine took place on the Argentario coast, where nine cages containing around 9,000 carefully selected bottles of wine were placed at a depth of 35 metres below sea level. The ocean, with its continuous movements, constant temperature of 16 degrees and constant pressure of 4.5 bar, provides ideal conditions for ageing wine that are not found on land.

The movements of the sea are proving to be a significant factor here. Thanks to the constant sea currents, the bottles are in endless motion, reminiscent of a cradle. Pressure does not play a role at this point, as the bottles are fitted with glass stoppers with silicone seals to ensure that not a drop of seawater gets in.

The packaging of Talamo a Mare is a real work of art. Each bottle is concealed in a wooden box and covered with traces left by marine animals, adding to its uniqueness. An elegant aluminium plate engraved with the name of the wine, Talamo a Mare, adorns each bottle. And as the icing on the cake, the package also includes a numbered certificate with detailed information and a map showing where the bottle was deposited in the sea.

HOW DOES THE TASTE OF TALAMO AND TALAMO A MARE DIFFER?

I've always been a little sceptical about the idea that the way a wine is stored could have any major effect on its flavour - unless we're talking about extremely unsuitable conditions such as high temperature or exposure to light and sun. Still, the opportunity presented itself to test the supposed small difference myself, and so I embarked on a comparative tasting.

We were all absolutely amazed by the results. Both the land-aged Talamo and the Talamo a Mare samples were from the 2018 vintage. The Talamo a Mare was significantly rounder and riper than its land-based counterpart. For interest, we also tried the traditional Talamo from the 2016 vintage, and even in this comparison, the "marine" variant was slightly more mature.

Of course, it is not possible that we were the first to compare the two wines. There even seems to be a consensus in this regard. For reference, for example, you can visit  Talamo a Mare: The underwater resting place of a thousand expressions refined 35 metres under the sea. - WinesCritic. 

IS TALAMO A MARE WORTH IT?

Before we get into the evaluation of whether Talamo a Mare is worth it, it is important to understand what actually distinguishes this wine from the classic Talamo. Talamo a Mare is a wine that has undergone a year of aging in bottles submerged thirty-five metres below sea level. This unusual ageing method is said to create a distinctive flavour profile that is not possible to achieve with traditional ageing methods.

Another factor to consider when deciding on the value of Talamo a Mare is its price. Talamo a Mare is usually more expensive than its traditional counterpart. However, this higher price may be entirely appropriate if you are looking for a unique and premium wine that has been aged in this unique way.

The decision to invest in Talamo and Mare depends on personal preference. If you appreciate unique and quality wines, or are looking for a valuable gift for wine lovers, then Talamo a Mare may be the right choice.

What about you? Does anyone have experience with a similar comparison? I'd be happy if you share your insights.

Zdenek Bínek

zdenek.binek@zebrawines.cz

30.8.2023

Odkazy 

• Talamo na ZEBRA WINES
• Talamo a Mare IGT ma ZEBRA WINES
• Terre di Talamo, vinařství na dně moře (video)

The Wine Prague fair was held on 16 and 17 May 2023 and this was the second time your company participated. This year was the 7th edition, which fortunately was not adversely affected by any restrictions. We can note that compared to the previous edition, the number of visitors increased by approximately 10% to 5142 and the number of exhibitors increased by less than 5% to 180.

From personal experience, we felt that there were significantly more visitors, especially at our booth. This hopefully confirms that our presentation was attractive and generated interest among visitors to the fair.

During the fair we focused, among other things, on exploring the preferences of visitors to our stand. In the white varieties, Sauvignon Blanc was the winner and in the red varieties, Shiraz was the most popular. The two varieties that are specific to South Africa - namely Chenin Blanc and Pinotage came second, indicating the growing interest of visitors in wines from this region. It is interesting to see how these varieties are gaining in popularity.

The positive news is that more and more people are willing to pay extra for quality wine. This trend shows a growing awareness of the value and quality of wine among visitors to the fair.

Analyses of visitor preferences are valuable to us and can help us adapt our offerings in the future.

ZEBRA WINES participated for the first time this year in the prestigious international wine competition Cuvée 2023, organized by the Ostrava Wine Builders Club K.A.H.A.N. in cooperation with the hotel Zámek Zábřeh and the National Wine Centre. This unique competition, which took place in April and May, is now in its 21st year and represents a unique opportunity for winemakers from Bohemia, Moravia and abroad to showcase their best coupages, assemblages and vignettes. This year's event attracted 136 competition samples from eight countries - the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Bulgaria, Denmark, Spain, Austria and South Africa. The wines were evaluated under the expert guarantee of the National Wine Centre and awarded with a 100-point scale, which is in line with the criteria defined by the National Standards for Certified Wine Competitions in the Czech Republic.

ZEBRA WINES entered two wines into the competition - Spier Creative Block 2 (cuvée Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon) and Creative Block 3 (cuvée Shiraz, Mourvedre and Viognier). And both samples won awards! Creative Block 3 won a silver medal and a gold medal from the public jury, while Creative Block 2 won a double gold medal and even became Champion of the white wine competition. This achievement is a great honour for Spier Wines and a confirmation of the quality of their wines.

The Cuvée 2023 competition was founded by the founder Prof. Vilém Kraus and the organizers of the K.A.H.A.N. Ostrava Wine Builders Club with the aim to support and promote winemaking in the Moravian-Silesian region. This year's edition confirmed the high level of wines from this region, when Moravian wines won a total of 5 large gold, 14 gold and 53 silver medals. Foreign participants also performed well, with France (3 gold, 3 silver), Slovakia (2 gold, 5 silver) and Bulgaria (2 gold, 2 silver) recording the most successes.

ZEBRA WINES is very proud of the success of the winery we represent in the Cuvée 2023 competition and looks forward to the next edition in 2024. 

So we have a new date for the fair and after two years of postponements, Wine Prague 2022 will take place! This year's Wine Prague will take place on May 10 and 11. We will be focusing primarily on our South African offering and as the only specialist ma South Africa we will be showcasing the best of this vitally important region of the New World.

Our booth will concentrate on wines of higher to premium quality from two regions: Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. The Stellenbosch range will be built around a wide selection of mainly red wines from Spier Wine, especially the Seaward range, Creative Block and the best of the 21 Gables range. The Stellenbosch range will be complemented by two wines from the smaller Meerlust winery, including the famous Rubicon. From the Franschhoek region, visitors will be able to sample varieties from the La Bri, La Couronne and Lynx wineries, including South Africa's most widely grown varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Pinotage.

However, Old World lovers will not miss out either! From our Tuscan offer we will be presenting the offer from three wineries: Castello di Bossi, Renieri and Terre di Talamo, which produce the famous Chianti, Morellino di Scansano and Brunello di Montalcino.

If you would like to make an appointment with us at the fair for a specific time, please do not hesitate to book an appointment

"Everything bad in the world is due to lack of knowledge," a wise man recently said to himself and started building schools. That's why we decided to expand our knowledge so that we can better convey to you the good in the wines we offer. Because today's wines carry not only a visual and gustatory sensation, but also a unique origin and an interesting story, which together intertwine in a unique experience in a given place, time and in the presence of loved ones or friends.

We are therefore delighted that last week we completed our efforts and successfully completed the Sommelier courses at the Wine Academy in Valtice, which will help us to share similar experiences with you.

When tasting or searching for interesting wines on the Internet, we often come across the term "New World". While it may seem at the moment that the new world is what awaits us after the coronavirus epidemic is overcome, in wine terminology it is something else. In the wine industry, the Old World refers to the traditional European countries with long-established wine industries, most often France, Italy and Spain. Winemaking in these countries is characterised by a huge tradition and a diverse range of winemakers, from the smallest to the largest enterprises. The Old World still sets the latest trends and is a benchmark in the global wine market.

By New World we mean the rest of the world, specifically the major wine-producing countries such as California, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The boom in wine production in these countries began later, during the 20th century, but it quickly caught up with the Old World, so that today California and Argentina are the 4th and 5th largest producers in the world respectively. Similarly, there has been a rapid improvement in quality and a focus on supplying top wines rather than quantity, so that today New World wines regularly appear among the best global wines.

New World winemaking is characterised by several interesting features. First of all, almost exclusively European varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, etc. are grown here, one exception being the South African variety Pinotage. Another interesting fact is that, due to the stability of the climate and the higher temperatures, the vintages here are more balanced than in Europe. Unlike European wineries, New World wine farms are also generally larger and fewer companies control most of the national production.

Moreover, South African wines are unique among New World countries in that they had no contact with the outside world until 1991 because of apartheid. This handicap was only erased at the beginning of this century, and today all lovers of fine New World wines can confidently turn to South African wines, which are fully comparable in quality to any global competition.      

Why not buy red wines in the hypermarket?As everywhere, wine lovers in the Czech Republic are divided into two groups - some prefer white or, in the extreme case, rosé wines, others prefer red wines with a rich content of tannins. However, while red wine consumption is generally more prevalent than white in the world, in the Czech Republic the ratio of consumption between white and red brands is estimated at 73 % to 27 %.

It is not hard to guess why this is so. The climate in our regions, and especially in Moravia, has always been more favourable to white varieties, which are used to produce high-quality dry wines. The Czech consumer is then traditionally used to what is grown in his latitudes. But it's not just a matter of patriotism, but also of good taste - Moravian white wines are increasingly winning international awards for excellence, with over 900 such awards last year alone.

The problem arises, however, if you long for a quality red wine. Despite climate change, which is increasing the number of sunny days in Moravia, it is still not enough to grow red varieties competitive with the wine-growing superpowers.  Even some Moravian winemakers have come to understand this and prefer to plant white varieties on their original red vineyards, where they can achieve results comparable to foreign competitors.

Then there is no choice but to look around for foreign wines and most consumers head for the hypermarkets. But buying a quality red wine priced under CZK 200 is like winning the lottery jackpot. In this case, the hypermarkets target the highest volume at the highest discount, which means that the winemakers or importers are definitely not selling the best of their portfolio. Another option is to go to specialist wine shops, but where the inexperienced consumer can easily get lost. The staff at such specialty shops tend to offer more expensive wines, but even price is no guarantee of high quality.

As customers, we too have experienced these situations and the subsequent disappointments countless times, which is why we at ZEBRA WINES have made it a cardinal rule: we will subject all the wines we offer to a personal tasting directly in South Africa, and we will not offer those that are not of sufficient quality. We know that there are many "seekers" of red wines of consistently high quality in the Czech Republic. We also know that we have such wines. We hope to meet you soon!   

Visitors to the ZEBRA WINES e-shop can now also enjoy tasting sets available on more favourable terms, including a 15% discount on the price of individual wines and free shipping. The tasting sets always include 6 wines aimed at different specific preferences of wine lovers: there are white and rosé wines, typical South African varieties, a selection of cuvees, or wines from the Stellenbosch and Franschhoek regions.