Tradition Reborn... Viticulture in Žernoseky

There are adjectives holding more than mere geographical data. There are adjectives capable of evoking unusually vivid and captivating pictures in your mind. There are inseparable adjectives...

If you say Žernoseky wine, perhaps everyone will recall one of the most beautiful corners of our country, the magnificent Porta bohemica. Labe snatched the heart of the České středohoří highlands to give rise to a breathtaking scenery. Any expert knows that thanks to French cistercian monks a long time ago, grapevine has found ideal conditions on the steep rocky terraces above the river flowing tranquilly nowadays. That the wines Riesling, Pinot blanc, noir and gris and Moravian Muscat (here traditionally called by its originally provisional cultivation name MOPR, which is a corruption of the names Muscat Ottonel – PRachtraube), maturing in marlite cellars of the chateau in Velké Žernoseky, are – in their successful years - top wines on the qualitative scale of production of the Czech Republic. However, perhaps only eyewitnesses associate the name of Žernoseky wine with the village on the left bank of Labe – Malé Žernoseky. The Second World War sealed the fates of both its vineyards and administrators. Another item gradually disappeared from the list of winery centres... It could have been forever, had it not appeared a man, to whom the idea of striking fire from the last dying spark has become a meaning of life. This hero is Mr. Zdeněk Vybíral. His hands adorned the landscape with grapevine again, gave rise to a new winemaking trail and in 2002, returned the village of Malé Žernoseky to the official winemaking map.

My steps were led to his region by chance. I got a hankering for getting to know the places, where Žernoseky wine is born. The most comfortable and fastest connection to Velké Žernoseky is the railway line Praha – Roudnice – Ústí nad Labem, winding along the left bank of Labe. It is necessary to get off the train in Malé Žernoseky and to use the service of a picturesque ferry. While studying the map on www.wineofczechrepublic.cz , my attention was caught by a miniature symbol of grape next to one of the houses in Malé Žernoseky. I opened the link contained in it. „Vinařství sv. Tomáše (St. Thomas Winery), Zdeněk Vybíral“. I was overcome by curiosity and even though it was the late evening of the day before my expedition, I dared to write an email to the owner with an inquiry if he was to be in his cellar next day in the afternoon. I mentioned my phone number with request if he could possibly confirm this by SMS.

His answer arrived next day in the morning and just in time – shortly after Roudnice nad Labem. My journey to know the Žernoseky wine acquired a new goal... Already in the close vicinity of the platform of the train stop Malé Žernoseky, my eyes caught the sight of first lines of grapevine, lining the road as far as the village. In the guide about wineries and wines in Czech republic by Helena Baker, you can read this: „Zdeněk Vybíral rented the tumbledown Phannsmith's farm...“, however, the real view of the spot will take your breath away anyway. You will experience the same physiological response once again in the cellar – during the degustation. It is almost incredible how great wines can arise in such pioneering conditions. True, modern technological equipment is not lacking here (without installed cooling, as the cellar temperature attributes allow experimentation by natural way), but first minutes of the tour through the cellar, where in the beginnings of the production, before they managed to stop the access of surface water, the ceilings had been about to fall, will reveal to you the enormous effort hidden behind those products. The winery is specialized in Pinot of all three colours, after all, the tradition of its cultivation in the area of Malé Žernoseky is historically documented. The wines were clean, typical and very attractive in their varieties – in spite of the not very successful conditions of the year 2008. Pinot Noir from the later rank (only its weaker predecessor was on the market at that time), awaken from sleep in two oak barrels, seemed to me during the degustation as probably the best sample from the Bohemian area lately, definitely one of those rare ones not denying their style affinity with its burgundy cousins. Zdeněk Vybíral, as an attentive host, dedicated almost two hours of his time to me, carefully answering all my inquisitive questions and opening one tank after another, to allow me to taste his entire production of the previous year. And what great effort did that require (the tanks didn't have any degustation valve not even in their bottom part, for some inconceivable reason)! He had to place the stepladder, release the pneumatic seal of the floating lid, to pull out its many kilograms from the depth of 10 000-liter tank, to draw in the sample and subsequently, to close and seal everything carefully again – and this all was repeated about ten times... To realize how much effort this all needs, it would have been enough just to see the filler by means of which the winemaker manually fills about 800 bottles (!!) during his work of entire day... Had I not been just a solo hornist of the Czech Philharmonic, but for example a football player, whose permanent but above all exceptional (!) achievements are greatly financially appreciated in our country, I would have bought him a bottling line, since that sight was really breaking my heart. That man lugs along on his back by himself a beautiful tradition, which we so carelessly renounced, and he never gets enough support in his efforts...

All the more reason to appreciate the attitude of the company, for which the St. Thomas Winery is a competitor, a small one but still... This company is Žernosecké vinařství s. r. o. and above all its owner Mr. Kupsa has been a source of precious technological advice for the beginning winemaker Zdeněk Vybíral, whose original profession is a computer centre programmer. I think such friendly relations among winemaking competitors is not very usual in our country... Famous vineyards owned by Mr. Kupsa's company were another destination of my journey. Although seen from close they do not seem as an English park that much:-), they are really impressive in their entire magnificence and traces of renewal are still distinctly visible on them. Guarding houses scattered over the slope of Malá and Velká Vendule, which is a conservation area, are renewed, vineyards are really carefully maintained – especially in the lower part, marlite walls (the usual signature of the cistercians) are reinforced etc.... The complex of buildings of the winery, the Žernoseky chateau had also gone through reconstruction and sensitive extension. Unfortunately it was not possible to visit its ancient cellars, as the ongoing green works on the vineyards required work of all the staff. The only available person was the attendant in the company shop, where I bought several samples for later pleasant meditation over the memories of the successful expedition.

During the holiday period of 2009, it was already my second visit of this magical place, the charm of which is disfigured only by some bolshevik attempt, realized probably in some kind of mental derangement, to enrich the silhouette of the horizon with modern cathedrals of chemical and electrical factories. It was very clear to me that, if circumstances allow, this was certainly not my last visit here...