This title may be a little confusing to some of you. On this trip, we haven't yet been to the Czech Republic. However, several years before, I had the chance to travel around this great country and look at and experience all it has to offer for almost two weeks. I loved it here and coming back was almost like coming home. We stayed at the Chateau Mcely, which is about an hour outside of Prague in the middle of nowhere. We were here for two nights. The first of which was spent relaxing and watching a movie. We ate in their restaurant for lunch and it was a nice treat. The food was good, but what made it was the wine. Czech wine is fantastic and for it's price, it's like winning the Olympic gold. Sorry...couldn't resist that. I've been watching way to much of the Olympics.
But I digress.
We ended up buying 11 bottles of the chardonnay that we had at lunch (of course priced with a very steep markup) and some red and rose for $111. That's right. 11 bottles. For $111. That's $10.09 a bottle. One of them was given away. The rest was taken with us. Sorry, I don't have a photo of it. But I can tell you the name. It's a 2010 Chardonnay from Vinarsvi Volarik Mikulov. It is amazing. Lynn and I tend to shy away from Chardonnays because many of them have a strong oak flavor. Not my most favorite thing in a wine. The red we bought is a 2011 Cabernet Moravia from Milan Sukal. Also a very excellent wine. We did buy two bottles of rose. They aren't my favorite.
Before you head on out to your local Spec's, I should tell you, you can't buy it in the US. How I have tried to buy Czech wines there. The sad fact is, that they make enough to sell in their own country, but not enough to export. I can also imagine the prospect of trying to figure out export deals for the US is daunting.
The next day was also spent relaxing during the day and heading into Prague that night for dinner with some new friends on my part, and old friends on Lynn's part. We met them for a drink at their hotel and then headed for dinner at U Modre Kachnicky (The Blue Duckling) in New Town. The inside seems almost like someone's personal dining room- intimate and dim. It was somewhat hot inside, but thankfully it wasn't crowded. We were entertained by the piano player who reminded me of someone that you would see in Vegas. The food was very good there. The specialty of the house was of course, duck.
But I digress.
We ended up buying 11 bottles of the chardonnay that we had at lunch (of course priced with a very steep markup) and some red and rose for $111. That's right. 11 bottles. For $111. That's $10.09 a bottle. One of them was given away. The rest was taken with us. Sorry, I don't have a photo of it. But I can tell you the name. It's a 2010 Chardonnay from Vinarsvi Volarik Mikulov. It is amazing. Lynn and I tend to shy away from Chardonnays because many of them have a strong oak flavor. Not my most favorite thing in a wine. The red we bought is a 2011 Cabernet Moravia from Milan Sukal. Also a very excellent wine. We did buy two bottles of rose. They aren't my favorite.
Before you head on out to your local Spec's, I should tell you, you can't buy it in the US. How I have tried to buy Czech wines there. The sad fact is, that they make enough to sell in their own country, but not enough to export. I can also imagine the prospect of trying to figure out export deals for the US is daunting.
The next day was also spent relaxing during the day and heading into Prague that night for dinner with some new friends on my part, and old friends on Lynn's part. We met them for a drink at their hotel and then headed for dinner at U Modre Kachnicky (The Blue Duckling) in New Town. The inside seems almost like someone's personal dining room- intimate and dim. It was somewhat hot inside, but thankfully it wasn't crowded. We were entertained by the piano player who reminded me of someone that you would see in Vegas. The food was very good there. The specialty of the house was of course, duck.
We started with several bottles of a local Cabernet Sauvignon (well, one, but we ordered several more as the evening wore on). It was a great wine, not to heavy of a red wine. Perfect since it was hotter than can be outside. Also included for your viewing pleasure is a rare shot of me "working."
For starters, we all got the vegetable salad. It was light and refreshing. The vegetables all had taste and weren't dressed to heavily. The portions on the salad were huge, so Lynn and I split one. Trust me, it was a good call. For my main course, duck- what else?
Before I get to far, let me just say that I have eaten more duck in four months than I have in my time on this earth. Duck just isn't a big thing for us back home. It can be trick to prepare, so we avoid it altogether. Some of the duck that I have had hasn't been great- in fact it's been terrible. Dry with terrible sauces to provide moisture. Ugh. However, this duck was done perfectly. One would hope so since the name of the place had duckling in it. The skin was crispy and the meat was tender and juicy. The sauce that went with it complemented it. It was served with garlic potato pancakes and bacon Brussels sprouts. Two things that, as strange as it is, I really do enjoy. My mouth is watering just looking at it and writing about it. Yum.
Sadly, the night was soon over and we headed back to our hotel to sleep, pack and get up early the next day. We enjoyed our last breakfast in the Czech Republic and soon headed off on our next great adventure- a month in Krakow, Poland. What's in store? You'll just have to come back and find out, won't you?
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