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.
White muscat is a white grape variety of Greek origin. Present in several Mediterranean vineyards, it has several synonyms such as muscat de Die, muscat blanc and frontignac. In France, it occupies a little less than 7,000 ha out of a total of 45,000 ha worldwide. Its young shoots are downy. Its youngest leaves are shiny, bronzed and scabrous. The berries and bunches of this variety are all medium-sized. The flesh of the berries is juicy, sweet and firm. Muscat à petits grains has a second ripening period and buds early in the year. It is moderately vigorous and must be pruned short. It likes poor, stony slopes. This variety is often exposed to spring frosts. It fears mildew, wasps, grape worms, court-noué, grey rot and powdery mildew. Muscat à petits grains is used to make rosé wines and dry white wines. Orange, brown sugar, barley sugar and raisins are the known aromas of these wines.
wines from the region of Slovak Republic go well with generally quite well with dishes of rich fish (salmon, tuna etc), shellfish or vegetarian such as recipes of baked salmon mediterranean style, marinated shrimp sautéed asian style or quiche without pastry.
On the nose in the region of Slovak Republic often reveals types of flavors of red fruit, vegetal or tree fruit and sometimes also flavors of citrus fruit, black fruit or oak.
It is always reassuring to find flourishing examples of family continuity in French wine estates. At the famous Domaine Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace, Pierre-Emile Humbrecht is the latest to join the family business. In preparation, he studied at the Changins School of Viticulture and Enology in Switzerland and then completed internships at wine estates, beginning with Thérèse Chappaz in that same country for 18 months, followed by a six-month period at Domaine Tissot in the Jura and then nearly eigh ...
‘Platinum is very hard-fought’ says co-chair Sarah Jane Evans MW. ‘It’s like something in the Premier League’, she adds, ‘but getting there means it’s going to be something special.’ The Decanter World Wine Awards judging process for Platinum begins after a meticulous first round of tasting, where all entries – this year a record 18,250 – are examined by regional specialists to determine Bronze, Silver, Gold or no award. All wines awarded 95 points (a Gold med ...
An alcohol duty freeze due to end on 1 February has been extended for six months, until 1 August, the UK government announced this week. There has been uncertainty about the policy in recent weeks, but trade members had warned that going ahead with plans to allow alcohol duty to rise with inflation in February could have dire consequences for businesses already dealing with multiple cost pressures. ‘If duty rates went up by RPI [retail price index] on 1 February, this would have been a crippling ...
