PILSEN – 1 DAY

Prices are in Euros per person

First produced in 1969, Bohemia Sekt has been a Czech favourite ever since. The popular sparkling wine, or sekt in Czech, is produced exclusively at the Bohemia Sekt plant in Starý Plzenec outside Plzeň in western Bohemia. The most popular product is Bohemia Sekt demi sec; it’s the most popular sparkling wine in the Czech Republic. Western Bohemia is not a traditional Czech wine-making region; in fact, all the grapes used to produce their sparkling wine are brought here from South Moravia where vine-growing dates back several centuries. The plant was originally a brewery, and only started making wine during the war.  The first batch was produced in June 1945; it was red sparkling wine with the English name Black Widow. At that time, the US army was all around the area, and American soldiers helped very much to dispose of the first sparkling wines produced here. After the communist takeover of 1948, a French expert arrived in Starý Plzenec to shares his skills with the Czechs. At that time, Louis Girardot came here, a native of Epernay, a town in the Champagne region in France. He had made sparkling wines all his life, and he helped local wine makers with its production and development. He brought experience and he brought some practical skills that were adopted here.” Most of the sparkling wine is produced by what is known as the Charmat process; wine is let to ferment in huge tanks, rather than bottles, and then bottled on the production line. Only some 350,000 bottles of sparkling wine are produced in the traditional way, with the wine fermenting in bottles. Bohemia Sekt, owned by the German Dr Oetker concern, dominates the Czech market. While Czechs have increasingly learnt to appreciate foreign still wines, Bohemia Sekt sells more than two thirds of sparkling wine in the Czech Republic. Abroad, people prefer Bohemia Sekt wines that are prepared in the traditional way, such as Chateau Radyně, Bohemia Sekt Prestige and the company’s flagship wine, Louis Girardot, named after the Frenchman who helped the company in its beginnings. The best Czech sommelier of 2008 Tomáš Brůha has some advice for those who can’t imagine seeing the New Year in without a glass of champagne in their hand. The key is to have your wine properly cooled.  “The most important thing when drinking sparkling wine is the temperature of the bottle or the sparkling wine. The refrigerator should be set at four degrees Celsius because as you drink it, the temperature goes up by some two or three degrees, and sparkling wine tastes best at six or seven degrees.” Cheers ! 

ALL ABOUT BEER

The Czech Republic consumes more beer per capita than any other country in the world. Beating out Germany, Ireland and Belgium, the country drinks on average about 161 liters of beer per person each year. Czech beer has been brewed since 993 AD (at least).Brewing in this early period has largely been associated with monasteries. Although beer was likely made in this region prior to 993 AD, written documentation indicates that Benedictine monks brewed beer in the Břevnov Monastery. While this was the first mention of the brewing process, it is believed that hops were grown in the region for the purposes of beer production as early as the first century.

Pilsner Urquell The world’s first pale lager gets its name from Pilsen, the city in the Czech Republic it was originally brewed (and it’s still produced today). Pilsner is made using pale malts and soft water. It has a very distinct “hoppy” taste and an alcohol content of 4.5%-5%.

Pilner, what else? Pilsner Urquell is served almost everywhere, in the country and all over the world. Since 1993, Pilsner Urquell has been brewed using cylindrical metal tanks, but brewery visitors can also taste the “old” type, brewed in open barrels and stored in the brewery’s cellar. A great way to compare tastes and an experience you can only get in the Czech Republic. Though the Czech Republic — and especially the region of Bohemia — is forever linked to Pilsner beer, this country has a long history of brewing before the first Pilsner was produced. Long and storied, but not necessarily varied. What you can expect to find is a progression of pale (svĕtlé) and dark (tmavé)lagers of varying strengths. Not unlike the British Bitters or Scottish Ales, Czech beers are often ordered by their alcoholic strength, as denoted by their degrees Balling (which is a measure of gravity or density on the day the beer was brewed). A beer with a gravity of 11 to 12 degrees Balling has an alcohol content of 4.5 to 5.0 percent; a beer with a gravity of 13 to 20 degrees Balling has an alcohol content between 5.5 to 7.5 percent. Around the winter holidays, brewers may introduce a special black (černeé) beer that’s marginally darker that its regular dark beer. And, yes, it’s a lager.