Slovakia (officially the Slovak Republic) is a landlocked country, described as being either on the eastern edge of Western Europe or on the western edge of Eastern Europe. This dichotomy reflects the state's recent history of frequent political unrest in the region. The land that is now Slovakia was an integral Part of Hungary">Hungary for almost 900 years, but became independent when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dismantled after World War I. Almost immediately, Slovakia became a part of Hungary.
Almost immediately, Slovakia aligned with Bohemia and Moravia (now the Czech Republic), Silesia and Carpathian Ruthenia to form Czechoslovakia. This union lasted until the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Since 1993, the Slovak and Czech Republics have remained cordially independent.
Since the dissolution of the Eastern bloc and Slovakia's separation from its western neighbour, the Czech Republic, Slovakia has adopted its European status.
It joined the European Union and NATO in 2004, the Schengen area in 2007 and the Eurozone in 2009. It is now one of the fastest growing economies in the OECD, and its once troubled wine sector is showing signs of recovery. Although early attempts to privatise the sector failed, New wine laws and the continued growth in global wine consumption have revived the country's wine producers. The majority of Slovak wines are still sold on the domestic market or in neighbouring Poland and Ukraine, but a small number of producers are ready to develop international export markets.
Müller-Thurgau shows the character of its noble origins. This Swiss white grape variety is a cross between the royal madeleine and the riesling. The idea that the latter was crossed with the sylvaner is irrelevant. The variety can be recognized by its vigorous character and its semi-erect habit. Preferring rich soils and short prunings, the plant sees its buds open quite early. The buds are cottony and soft green in color. The slightly embossed and tormented blade, with 5 to 7 lobes, makes it possible to distinguish the adult leaves. The clusters appear compact, pyramidal or cylindrical in shape and small to medium in size. The flavour of the Müller-Turgau berries is reminiscent of Muscat. The juicy and crunchy pulp is revealed under a greyish skin. When ripe, the fruit has a mottled shell on a golden yellow background. Switzerland prefers to extract the juice from this variety. The wine made from it is rather heavy and does not keep well.
white wines from the region of Slovak Republic go well with generally quite well with dishes of pork, rich fish (salmon, tuna etc) or shellfish such as recipes of gratin of coquillettes with ham, cucumber pie or koskera hake (basque country).
