The Embassy of the Czech Republic in London, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, was proud to host the largest presentation of Moravian wineries in the UK in recent years. Wine tourism, another feature of the wine sector was also highlighted to the UK guests. A total of 15 wineries from South Moravia, ranging from small family winemakers to some of the largest wine producers in the Czech Republic, presented their top quality wines to British experts and consumers during the tasting.

The Moravian winemakers presenting on the event were:  Jakubík, Spielberg CZ, Marcuswine , Vinařství Josef Valihrach, Vinařství Stávek, Vinařství Jedlička - Bořetice, Vinařství Piálek & Jäger, Vinařství LAHOFER, Vinařství Krásná hora, Vinselekt Michlovský, Víno Masarik, Nové Vinařství, Vinařství Skoupil, Templářské sklepy Čejkovice, a Vinařství Jiří Černý Buchlovice.

The event was opened by Ambassador Libor Sečka, who emphasised the 2,000-year-old wine tradition in Moravia and mentioned that a member of the British Royal Family, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, recently acknowledged the quality of wines from the Czech Republic in her letter to him. Following the opening remarks the participants were introduced to some basic information about the Czech wine sector and a representative of the South Moravian Region invited them to visit the wine region of the Czech Republic. She made a special invitation to the guests to visit the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, one of the largest wine competitions in the world, which takes place in the City of Brno in 2020.

Almost one hundred British participants were introduced to their wines, especially representatives of wine wholesalers, wine shops, hotels, restaurants and bars, as well as sommeliers, journalists and beverage industry bloggers. The first Czech holder of the prestigious title Master of Wine, London based Mrs. Lenka Sedláčková, also judged quality of Moravian wines presented.

On Wednesday 22.05.2019 some of the wineries visited the London Wine Fair to make contact with other companies and see the extent of the wine business in the UK for themselves.

While beer consumption in the UK is falling, wine consumption has been increasing in recent years. So far the share of wine from the Czech Republic in the UK is very small however Moravian wineries have gradually been increasing their exports to some top restaurants and professional wine shops. The unique and quality traditional, sparkling and organic wines have a chance to attract a highly competitive British market where the best wines from all over the world are available. Of course, a great advertisement for Czech wines are the awards received at prestigious international competitions. In this respect, five of the wineries at Czech Wine Day 2019 - Lahofer, Piálek & Jäger, Skoupil, Spielberg and Vinselekt Michlovský, are all recipients of medals at the prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards competition in London, as are many other Czech and Moravian wineries.

Aleš Opatrný, Commercial Counsellor, Embassy of the Czech Republic in London

Czech Wine Day Brochure (PDF, 17 MB)

Czech and Moravian Wine Making Sector in brief (PDF, 2 MB)