News, Page 2

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. 

We have expanded our range to include produce from other South African wineries. Now customers can enjoy interesting wines not only from the Stellenbosch region, but also from the picturesque Franschhoek region.

In addition to the produce of the traditional Spier winery, customers can also sample the products of the local Meerlust winery from the Stellenbosch wine centre with its famous Rubicon brand.  The ZEBRA WINES range is completed by La Bri, a smaller winery from the Franschhoek valley, which is known for producing small but high-quality series of wines. La Couronne, a winery that refers to the French Huguenots who landed in the Cape in the year 1688 and established the original vineyards, and Lynx Estate, a farm with authentic wines situated on the border of the Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek wine regions. 

"Zebra Wines, a newcomer to the Czech wine market, held a special tasting dinner on 7 August with wines from the South African winery Spier. The wines of the prestigious South African winery Spier are thus once again finding a distribution partner on the domestic market and the lawyers of Zebra Wines are now available to all interested parties."

 Wine & Degustation, Issue 9, 2019

Wine Degustation CZ 9-2019 Spier dinner