 Mělník Vinobrani (Wine Festival) 21-23 September 2007
by James Gogarty A large smile dimpled his reddened cheeks as he took a sip from his third glass of Zamek Mělník Red. It was the wine he had been looking for in a country whose fermenting skills are strongly directed elsewhere. The wine itself was a mixture of Pinot Noir and St. Laurent grapes with a medium body and a tart accent whispering deep fruits, which was precisely why he loved it and the natives, on average, seemed to loathe it, preferring to drink their watered-down, poor-excuse of a wine, Frankovka. She brought to his attention that the original vines were imported from Burgundy by none other than the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. ...It was all making sense to him now. With numerous wine cellars and many superb wines coming from the region, Mělník, once the dowery town of Czech Queens, is Bohemia's little “F-you” to Moravia*.
At her urging they departed for Mělník that morning from Holesovice Nádrazí bus station. 35 minutes later they could see the town’s most notable landmark from afar - the church tower overlooking the confluence of the Vltava and the Elbe. A visit to the clock tower teahouse equipped with an ingenious dumbwaiter, a creep through the bone-stacked charnel house, and a gaze at the castle's courtyard and sgraffito later and there was only one more destination to be had. As a typical regional museum it dictated the history and nature of the region and also offered rotating exhibitions but the vaults below housed the real treat for him, the wine cellar. Sitting across a large wooden table from her, the entrance was closed, the candles were lit and the first bottle opened.
 }By late September they would celebrate Vinobrani (wine festival) not in Moravia but back in Mělník. This time he came for a less mature yet more wild version of wine, burčák. This early harvest wine is still in the process of fermenting, which he was convinced meant that he would be in the continual process of getting drunk even after he stopped. Regardless, he continued to enjoy the three different varieties, white, red, and blue throughout the evening. Music of all genres were on hand, yet most were tinted too wholesome for his taste. Sensing his momentary boredom she grabbed his hand and led him to the smaller square to witness a medieval fencing match which turned into a real one due to some spilled burcák At midnight they were treated to a fireworks display and shortly there after he stumbled to his knees and bent forward east, as if to mock Moravia, but sadly it was no mocking gesture only a final one. She, slightly irritated yet wonderfully understanding, lifted him up and helped him home.
*Moravia, eastern Czech Republic, is considered the predominant wine growing region Traditional Mělník Wine Festival : 21-23 September 2007 How to get there: Visit www.idos.cz
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