WINE SALON AS A SHOW OF ART
The ball is round and the wine is fickle. None of the footballers or winemakers have a dedicated place at the top of the imaginary Olympus. Champions of previous years and completely unknown winemakers tried to get into the thirteenth year of the National Wine Salon. No wonder, being in a salon means confirming or acquiring the qualities of exceptional Slovak wine.
More than 8,000 wines competed in the regional wine competitions, but in the end only 440 samples from 54 winemakers made it to the two-round championship final. And in the end, only the wines of 37 winemakers passed through the salon jury.
For the second year in a row, rose and white early aromatic dry to semi-sweet wines and sparkling wines are evaluated in the spring. At that time, 25 wines were selected for the salon in Doľany. The remaining 75 (these were non-sparkling white dry wines, semi-dry and semi-sweet, naturally sweet wines, Tokaj wines, red dry, semi-dry and semi-sweet wines) were evaluated by the jury in September this year at the Červený Kameň castle.
Irsai Oliver 2017
Wine could get into the salon only if it gained at least 87.33 points. In each category, they awarded the best rated wine with the title of champion. It is worth to come to the salon, wine lovers will find in it all wine-growing areas of Slovakia - Malokarpatska (47 wines), South Slovak (26), Nitra (9), Central Slovakia (2), East Slovakia (2) and, of course, Tokaj (6). They can get an idea of a very mixed offer of Slovak wines.
Most of the wines in the salon come from wineries that were established in the 1990s or shortly after 2000. However, new winemakers appear every year. It means that there is a great viticultural potential of the area, but also of the people who inhabit it. A pleasant surprise of this year was, for example, BAYNACH from Bojnice near Hlohovec, a brand founded in 2016. For experts of viticulture geography, it is a reminder of one of the good locations, which is on the hills of the Nitra Uplands.
Slovakia has several other quite corners waiting for ambitious winegrowers and winemakers. At the same time, it turns out that large and already well-known companies are also working hard to stay on the market. They invest in vineyards, modernization of technologies and all other knowledge of wine. We can also notice the stratification of wines according to colors - 74 were white, 13 each were red and rose. The salon also shows which wines are the most in demand. There are 57 dry wines, 12 semi-dry, 16 semi-sweet, 8 sweet and 7 sparkling wines.
Whoever visits the Apponyi Palace near the Main Square in Bratislava may have something to choose from. In one place you can meet with contemporary Slovak winemaking. It is worth choosing a tasting with friends, which may later be used to get to know closer one of the wineries. Wine tourism combined with local cuisine is becoming more and more popular in Europe and the Slovak offer of food and wine is getting better every year.
Champions of the National Wine Salon 2018: They set the trend for the best wines in the country
We present the best wines from the top 100. These are unique wines that will surprise you with the richness of their expressions. They are an example of the diversity of natural conditions and the environment in which wine is born. These wines remind us of the unique terroir of Slovak vineyards. When we taste them, we realize the value of our country and at the same time we bow to the art of master winemakers.
Irsai Oliver 2017, Quality, Baynach Bojničky
Winner in the category: Early aromatic white wines
This light aromatic wine is a great new and old discovery of the great potential of the village of Bojničky and vineyards in the forgotten corner of the Nitra hills. The wine is characterized by the aroma of flowering white-thorn and elder, in the taste of wine there can be smell the berries of fresh grapes. In the wineglass there blooms the beginning of summer and tastes the matures autumn. The wine is not primarly defined for ladies, but it is formal, elegant, pleasantly seductive.
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