The trade mission, consisting of importers and distributors of wine and mead from New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Illinois, met with Czech wine exporters and representatives of the Winemakers Association of the Czech Republic to discuss commerce opportunities at the Czech-American Wine Business Forum in Prague on October 12.  President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce Vladimír Dlouhý and First Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Czech Republic Jiří Jirsa commenced the event, which also included an overview of the long history of wine production in the Czech Republic.  

A tour of the Moravian wine country in the Czech Republic followed the meeting on the subsequent two days. The trade mission visited and tasted wine as well as learned about the wine-making process at the National Wine Center in Valtice, Chateau Valtice, Sonberk Winery in Popice, Plže wine cellars in Petrov, Templar Wine Cellars in Čejkovice, and Vyskočil Winery in Blatnice pod Svatým Antonínkem.

The participants were able to experience how “culture and history adds to the authenticity and dimension of the ‘product.’” As one member of the delegation pointed out, “Wine is more than what is in the bottle – wine is about the people and their stories who put their labor, love and ambition into making them.”

The US participants included:  Brian Green - who sells Moravian wines in New Hampshire and imports Slovakian mead (Medovina) as the owner of Centeur Imports, LLC., Rudi Eilers - who is the Education Director at the Sommelier Society of America, the oldest sommelier training school in the US, and represents Moravian and other European wines in NYC, Kyle O'Donnell – who represents DM Selections, one of the finest distributors of high quality wines in Connecticut, Matthew Krempski  – who represents Wine-O-Rama - a very well-known book of eclectic wines in Chicago,  and Noah & Cheryl Ullman – who are the co-owners of Czech Wine Imports, Inc., the only wine importer in the United States exclusively focused on Moravian wines.

At the conclusion of the visit, the members of the delegation offered their individual heartfelt appreciation for the warm and professional welcome they received by the Czech Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Agriculture as well as the hospitable world-class experience in the wine country. One participant remarked that, “we learned a great deal and even those of us who were very familiar with the wines and the varieties were commenting on how much they had gained from the trip.” Another delighted participant immediately placed orders upon return to the US and conducted a wine tasting in Brooklyn.