Moravian winery Chateau Valtice has debunked the myth that Moravian winemakers cannot make decent red wines, taking home the prize of “Best Merlot” from an international competition in the United States. Photo: Courtesy of Chateau Valtice.
Czech Rep., Jul 28 (BD) – The South Moravian Chateau Valtice has taken home the title of “Best Merlot” at the Finger Lakes International Competition (FLIWC) in the US state of New York. Over 20 years of its existence, the competition has become one of the largest charitable wine competitions in the United States. More than 2,000 wines from almost twenty countries were entered into the competition, with only eight wines able to take home a “Best Of” category medal.
Masters of wine, Master Sommeliers, wine educators, wine journalists, wine makers, and other top certified wine judges from around the world get together every year to judge thousands of international wine and spirits for the competition, in two days of blind judging.
This year, one of the “Best Of” medals, awarded to one wine per category, went to Czech winery Chateau Valtice, whose Merlot Premium Collection 2017 won Best Merlot, the only Czech winery to win such a title this year. The others predominantly went to the United States, two to Canada, and one, Best Fruit, went to Slovakia.
“This year’s huge success is all the more valuable to our family winery because it is a champion in a red wine category, in particular a variety that is grown in all major wine-growing countries. So the competition is really huge,” said David Šťastný, director of Chateau Valtice – Valtice Wine Cellars. “For several years now, we have been happy to dispel the myth that world-class red wines cannot be produced in Moravia. And it is at anonymous tasting competitions like this that we see clear evidence that we can make great wines – great red wines – in Moravia.”
