At the beginning of December, just before Christmas, the students set off together with doc. Jan
Hán, on an excursion to discover the secrets of sparkling wine production, to the Bohemia Sekt company in
Staré Plzeň. Quality sparkling wines have been produced here for more than 80 years. During the
tour, our students learned about the history of sparkling wine production in the territory of the Czech Republic, they also got a glimpse
into the story of the birth of the well-known “Bohemka”, which represents the largest percentage share in the
Czech sparkling wine market. For their production, still wines are used from grapes
from Moravian vineyards, from which sparkling wines are subsequently born, due to time. One
of the original sparkling wines was the sparkling wine Black Widow, or “Black Widow”, which was
named after the American fighter jets that flew over Starý Plzeň at the time.
This sparkling wine is no longer produced, but still as other “sparkling treasures”, it is displayed in the premises
of the company, where visitors can view them. During the tour, the students
learned the difference between the traditional and charmat production methods, they saw the way
in which the yeast is shaken and how the sparkling wine is subsequently decanted. At the end of the tour, the students
saw the work in the bottling plant, where bottles are treated and filled with sparkling wine. The bottles are then
sealed, labeled and prepared for export. After the tour, the students were treated to a tasting
led by a graduate of our school – Ing. Jan Končel, who acts as the head of
Bohemia Sekt centre. Mr. Končel presented a new project of the company “Bohemia Sekt
Manufaktura”, which is supposed to draw visitors even more into the story.
