You travel to restaurants, but to vineyards as well. Where do you like it the best?
I visit vineyards in every special and beautiful places. I like the Italian Piemont and the French Champagne regions the most. And I think their wines are absolutely the best. I have been there three times this year already and it always takes me aback, because I discover something new every time. You can find real treasures there, especially those produced by small, family-run vineyards.

Why is wine from Champagne so exceptional?
The Champagne vineyards are located in a region with chalky soil, which gives the wines their inimitable characteristic and taste. The soil is very soft, so the roots can easily penetrate it and absorb nutrients and the typical minerals at great depths.

What sort of wine do you like to drink?
The world of wine is so diverse that I can't really say which one I prefer. I have discovered so many "wine treasures" that I still enjoy drinking. In white wine, I probably prefer Riesling, and among the reds it would be Nebbiolo. These wines are really delicious.

What fascinates you so much about wine?
It is a very noble drink that simply makes you feel better. I appreciate the demanding year-long, and sometimes life-long, work that is required of winemakers to get the wine into the bottle and then to a customer. Top winemakers are convinced that good work with the vines and the quality of the harvested grapes are absolutely crucial, and I agree with them. What influences wine quality is mainly the chosen type of wine for a given location, the age and quality of the vines, the quality of the harvest and of course the weather. In each wine there are subtle differences that I love to spot.

At the V Zátiší restaurant you offer an entire wine selcetion from Moravia. Why?
Moravian wines are beautiful and I dare to claim that those we offer to our guests are the absolute tops. They form up to 60% of sales in our restaurant. 

What treasures can we find on your wine list?
There are mainly wines from small winemakers with good locations and produced with good, hard work. One of our long-time business partner is Milan Sůkal, with whom we´ve been working for nearly 20 years and who was named Winemaker of 2017.

A good choice, then.
Yes, for sure. By and large, the quality of Moravian wines has much improved recently. It´s very different from what we used to drink a couple of years ago.

Why is that?
Czech winemakers travel a lot and learn from their colleagues abroad. New technologies have helped, too. There were none in the past or they were too expensive for winemakers to buy. Apart from that, we have some new methods of cultivating grapes.

How can we navigate through all the wines available on the market? Is there a general piece of advice about what to focus on or what to look for on the label?
The most important information is contained in the name. The wine is always named after its location - where it comes from and where the grapes were grown. However, there might be some variations in the quality of wines from the same area. Then, it´s a good idea to check the wine ratings by reputable critics. For example, the well-known Robert Parker Wine Advocate offers a special online app with trustworthy wine ratings from all over the world.