20.10.2019

Sémillon almost disappeared from the Czech Republic, but it made us famous by the French

It´s a month since we were the only representative of Moravian and Czech wine business to participate in the launch of a guide to the world's most interesting wineries called Wine Explorers, written by French wine lover Jean-Baptiste Ancelot. We were given the opportunity to show one of our unconventional wines, which had a great response in Paris. No wonder: Our winemaker Olda Drápal creates cuvée Sémillon / Sauvignon in the French Bordeaux style. And it's not a coincidence.

Sonberk was founded in 2003 and, of course, one of the first questions to address which varieties would be planted in a vineyard. “We were left with tiny piece of vineyard, so we decided to try the unconventional Sémillon. Originally there was an intention of making naturally sweet wines from it, because the variety is susceptible to botrytis, which increases the sugar content of grapes,” explains Olda.

But nature had ruined the original plan. Botrytis hardly ever appears at Sémillon so Olda came up with a new plan: to mix Sémillon according to a foreign model with Sauvignon. “In the Czech Republic, Sémillon grew a lot, for example, in the Znojmo region before World War II, but now we can see little. But abroad, for example in Australia, its combination with Sauvignon is frequent and popular,” adds the winemaker.


In the bottles of cuvée Sémillon / Sauvignon there are 70 percent of the first and 30 percent of the second variety, both are prepared in the barrel. Sémillon is first fermented in stainless steel tanks and then moved to wooden barrels where Chardonnay has matured before, so the effect of inner firing of the barrel is no longer so powerful. Sauvignon matures in larger wooden barrels. As a result you can drink an elegant wine with a delicate aroma that has a taste of cream and is ideal to eating. You can order it for the autumn cuisine at our e-shop.


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