CZECH IT OUT:

I. Searching for national grape

WEDNESDAY, 13 MAY 2026, 15:00.
LOCATION: Karakterre Masterclass Area, Orangery Palace Park, 7000 Eisenstadt.

Hosted by Dragan Bogdanović of Alma Prague & Alma Wines

The Empire Strikes Back!

Synopsis:

For a long time, the language of “serious wine” was defined by a few dominant regions and a clear aesthetic of perfection: concentration, structure, precision and control. Smaller wine countries often found themselves either copying that language or hiding behind folklore and local identity.

The rise of the natural wine movement helped to transform the perception of smaller wine regions. Attention shifted away from prestige and hierarchy towards origin, personality and cultural context. Regions once outside the traditional fine wine conversation suddenly became relevant because they offered something less standardized and more alive.

But after the initial boom, the conversation is evolving again. Today, the focus is less on “natural wine” as a form or ideology, and more on quality, coherence, ageing potential and genuine authenticity, authenticity not as an aesthetic, but as a real connection between wine, place and culture.

The starting point for understanding Czech wine is also the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. Not as nostalgia, but as a shared cultural and agricultural space where varieties, gastronomy and aesthetics moved naturally across borders. So figuratively speaking we can say, tah Grüner Veltliner and Blaufränkisch never belonged to one nation — they belonged to a people who inhabits certain European area.

Shared Grapes, Different Mentality

The tasting with Milan Nestarec and followed by comparative tasting of his fellows focuses on two varieties deeply rooted across Central Europe: Grüner Veltliner and Blaufränkisch.

These are not uniquely Czech grapes - and that is precisely the point.

Central Europe has always been a shared cultural landscape shaped by migration, shifting borders and overlapping influences. The grapes stayed the same, but the interpretation evolved differently.

Austrian wine culture is often associated with precision, discipline and clarity. The Moravian interpretation of the same grapes can feel more fluid, emotional and less obsessed with perfection. Less architectural, more slavic and bold, in good but also in negative way .

Perhaps this is where cultural terroir begins? 

Because terroir is not only soil and climate. The winemaker and the culture surrounding them are also part of terroir. Wine reflects mentality as much as geography.

Even the word Bohemia carries this idea historically. “Bohemian” became associated with freedom, nonconformity and resistance to rigid structures. Maybe some of that spirit still exists in these wines today.

The goal of this tasting is therefore not to compare Moravia with Austria, or to prove any sorts of superiority. It is to explore how the same varieties can carry a different cultural energy.

Wines by Milan Nestarec, commented tasting:

Grüner Veltliner — WTB

• 2019
• 2021
• 2022

Blaufränkisch — JIL

• 2019
• 2021
• 2022
  
  
  
  
  Open Tasting:
  
  
  Martin Vajčner

• Grüner Veltliner 2023 & Blaufränkisch 2024
  
  Víno Bystřický

• Blaufränkisch 2023

   

  Petr Koráb

• Blaufränkisch 2023
  
  Loigi

  • Grüner Veltliner – Skalky 2018 + 2023 &  Blaufränkisch – Old Vines 2023

  Plenér

  • Blaufränkisch 2023

  Dlúhé Grefty

  • Blaufränkisch 2024

  Tři Čtvrtě

  • Grüner Veltliner 2024 & Blaufränkisch 2023
    
    

 This tasting is not intended as a technical comparison of producers, but as a way of observing  philosophy, tension and identity despite changing years and conditions.

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CZECH IT OUT:

III. Building a Wine List Around Czech Wines

Thursday, 14 MAY 2026, 15:00.
LOCATION: Karakterre Masterclass Area, Orangery Palace Park, 7000 Eisenstadt.

Hosted by Dragan Bogdanović of Alma Prague & Alma Wines

The Wine List After Globalisation

Synopsis:
For decades, ambitious wine lists around the world were built around the same reference points: Burgundy, Champagne, Piedmont, Mosel...etc. The role of the sommelier was often to curate access to globally accepted prestige and established hierarchies.

But today, the idea of what makes a great wine list is changing. More restaurants are beginning to question whether a wine list should only reflect global prestige, or whether it should also reflect place, culture and the reality of contemporary gastronomy.

here is currently a real sweet spot for what many people call “sommelier wines” — wines from lesser-known regions that consistently deliver character, substance and a strong sense of place without relying on prestige or historical mythology.

These wines often emerge before the market fully understands the region itself. In many cases, a handful of visionary producers can completely transform international perception and start a global conversation almost single-handedly.

French Jura is a perfect example. Today, it is fully integrated into serious wine culture and appears naturally on top wine lists around the world. But twenty years ago, Jura was still considered marginal, rustic and commercially risky outside France.

The same happened with Etna in Sicily. Once perceived as remote and inconsistent, it is now one of the most hyped sommelier terroirs in Europe. Georgian wine moved from ethnographic curiosity into serious sommelier culture. Austrian Blaufränkisch itself went through a similar transformation. Even regions like Swartland in South Africa or the Canary Islands shifted from peripheral status to sommelier obsession within a relatively short period of time.

So the question becomes:
What is next?

And maybe this is where Czech wine becomes interesting. Its so obscure, so little known, that something great can emerge very easily, Milan Nestarec is shining example.
 

But let's ask Marko Kovač, co - founder of this great fair, and one of the most influential wine peoples nowadays.

• What are the best channels to get recognized on the markets you are familiar with?
• What is still missing for Czech wines to be taken more seriously internationally?
• Does Czech wine need stronger branding, or self-confidence?
• Is Czech wine currently underpriced, overpriced, or correctly positioned internationally?

Wines I'm talking about aka let's taste it:

Podkovné par Martin Grombíř

Staré Keře 2024
Chardonnay - Pinot Blanc 2024

Petr Kočařík

Pinot Noir 2023
Pinot Noir "Novosady" 2024