Wine history of the Lobkowicz house
Archaeologists have discovered that vines were grown in Mělník as early as in the dawn of Czech history in the 9th century. Legend has it that the first vineyards were planted in the 10th century by Ludmila, daughter of the ruler of the pagan Pšovan tribe and wife of Bořivoj I of the Přemyslid dynasty, to provide wine for masses. The wine history of the Lobkowicz house dates back to 1753 when countess Marie Ludmila Czernin of Chudenice married August Antonín Josef, Prince of Lobkowicz. The dowry consisted of four vineyards: Sirotčí, Stará, Mečířská a Redlich vineyards with a total area of 19.5 ha. In 1798, they brought 6,000 seedlings of Burgundy vines from France and in the years 1729 – 1803 they expanded the area of the vineyards by eight more vineyards, adding Štemberská, Sázená, Čenkovská, Celestínská, Dolhovka, Kriegerstein, Na Svini and Turbovice vineyards.
In 1808, the Koráb vineyard was added, and in 1873, Jiří Kristián, Prince of Lobkowicz, expanded the chateau winery with the Vraštilka vineyard and rented the Thunovská vineyard (in 1902). The owner of the estate, Jiří Kristián of Lobkowicz (1835 – 1908), was instrumental in establishing the St. Ludmila vineyard, which is planted with Burgundy vines and gives the town of Mělník its typical appearance that characterizes it until today. The vineyard is located on the slope below the castle and was planted with 15 537 vines covering the area of 1.8 ha. The chateau’s winery reached its boom when the manor was owned by JUDr. Bedřich, Prince of Lobkowicz (1881 – 1923). He bought the vineyards of Trautmanka, Klamovka, Venclovka, and rented the vineyards in Mělník and in Tuháňská village. He also had a new modern cellar of St. Joseph built under the courtyard of Chateau Mělník, and last but not least introduced the production of sparkling wine – Mělník sparkling wine – the production of which he knew from the French wine region of Champagne.
Our vineyards and cellars
Vineyards
Chateau Mělník Winery owns a total of 23.43 hectares of vineyards with a production of 30,000 – 40,000 bottles per year.
The vines are grown on six vineyards located within and around Mělník. The vineyards are called Městská – Ludmila, Na Svini; Klamovka – Štěpánka; Beřkovská – Josefka; Zdenčina – Cítov; Labská – Vehlovice; Turbovická. Once the grapes are processed in the courtyard of the Chateau Mělník , i.e. milled by a grinder – the resulting mash falls by gravity to the cellar to a pneumatic press or vinifiers.
Cellars
The cellars covering a total area f 1500 m2 date back to the 11th and 14th centuries. The barrels placed there are 100 – 200 years old, however serve only for decoration purposes, help create an authentic atmosphere and give the visitors an idea of what the castle winery and cellars used to look like.
The cellar is divided into 3 adjoining cellars. The first cellar is a “production” one and contains a press, vinifiers, decanting tanks, cooling/heating, and fermentation tanks for still and sparkling wines, and mobile flint filter. The second cellar is called a „tank cellar“ and is mainly used for wine storage. There are the stainless-steel tanks with the capacity of 1,500 – 2,000 litres, barrique barrels for the production of barrique wines and wine racks used for the production of sparkling wines using the classic method.
The third cellar is called the “sparkling wine cellar” and there are 500 l, 1,000 l and 2,000 l tanks stored containing wine prepared for bottling. The antecellar is used as a bottling room equipped with a storage tank, a microfiltration set, a bottling plant, a corker, a wirehooding machine and a labeller.
| Petit wine tasting | 2 types of wine | 140 CZK |
| Standard wine tasting | 4 types of wine | 180 CZK |
| Grand wine tasting | 6 types of wine | 220 CZK |
| Super grand wine tasting | 10 types of wine | 295 CZK |
Reservation is required for the groups over 9 persons.
We serve fresh bread including water to neutralize the flavours. It is also possible to order a cheese or sausage variation at a price of 95 CZK / person.