Vineyards of St. Clara and Melnik Castle

Now I will tell you about my excursion from Prague to Melnik Castle and the vineyards of St. Clara.

I would not be mistaken if I assume that from Kaliningrad to Chukotka everyone knows about Czech beer, and almost no one knows about Czech wine.

Meanwhile, international and so-called autochthonous vines have been cultivated in the Czech Republic for more than a thousand years. However, almost all wine is sold exclusively at home and this, in fact, explains the ignorance of this Czech miracle outside the country.

A hundred varieties of wine grapes ripen on Czech soil, but three-quarters of all vineyards are located in Moravia.

One of the few Bohemian wine regions is just half an hour’s drive from Prague. It is mainly dedicated to today’s trip.

On the way to the city of Melnik, on a couple of picturesque hectares, the famous Prague vineyards of St. Clara stretch, which, by the way, are already seven hundred years old. We will spend at least an hour there...

From the terraces of vineyards there are truly wonderful views of Old Prague and, basking in the sun, you can slowly enjoy very interesting wines here.

It seems no coincidence that in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, our general Annenkov bought a large collection of wines here and took it to St. Petersburg for, as one surviving document says, “the use of high persons.”

And that means only one thing – Prague wines are truly worthy.

Hoping and looking at Prague from the height of the grape terraces, we will continue the way to Melnik, called the Czech city of wine.

Old legends have made it the place where the traditions of Czech winemaking begin. They say that allegedly in the ninth century, the legendary Saint Lyudmila brought here the Moravian grapevine.

Now the main local varieties are pinot noir and pinot grie, muller turgau and blue Portuguese.

All local wines are made from grapes growing on the picturesque castle slopes.

The Melnytsky castle, which is definitely worth wandering around with a local guide, has its own oenologists and sommeliers.

Prince Jiri Lobkowitz, who lives here, is considered one of the best kavistas and is the largest winemaker of the Melnitsky region.

And if he does not trample his grapes and does not sit at a meeting of the State Council, he often and happily selfies with guests of his own castle.

After a tour of the old halls and a walk through the atmospheric town, you can easily dine in a local restaurant, where at the same time and taste well-balanced delicate local wines.

By the way, in the regional museum part of the exposition is devoted to the history of Melnytsky winemaking.

After getting acquainted with Czech wines, someone will probably get off the beer needle and thoroughly sit down on the winery.