“To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of our botanical garden, Sauvignon, Moravian Muscat and Riesling grapes were specially blended at the harvest and subsequently were made into Cuvée Natalis, meaning ‘birthday in Latin,” said Vladimíra Egertová, the director of St. Claire’s Vineyard.
This special wine is suitable for lovers of fruity flavours. Vladimíra Egertová reveals that Natalis has a rich aroma of ripe oranges, mandarins and limes, with notes of gooseberry, blackcurrant and almonds. “It is a sweet, pleasant summer wine, as it is only 10 percent alcohol,” she added.
Challenges to growth
Although last year was too dry for the vines, other wines recently introduced by the Botanical Garden are also exceptional.
“The lack of atmospheric precipitation caused partial shrinkage of the grapes and in some cases to the vines themselves. Nature is powerful and last year it really challenged the growth of the grapes,” Vladimíra Egertová commented on last year's crop, adding that the grapes were none the less able to mature, with a high sugar content, so their resulting quality was excellent.
Last year was particularly favourable for the wanted red wines
So what are the wines of 2018 like? The white ones will be especially appreciated by lovers of full-bodied wines with residual sugar and a higher alcohol content. However, according to Vladimíra Egertová, last year was especially favourable for red wines. For example, Pinot Noir 2018 will be a delicious treat. She said it already had features of a really top-quality wine after the final fermentation, and that it would be matured for two years in a combination of new and old oak barrels, then lie in a bottle for at least a year. Thus, visitors to St. Claire’s Vineyard will not be able to sample this wine until the year 2021.