Dear readers!
     There are endless good reasons for us to continue enjoying wine! New year of the Salon vín in the Czech Republic is kicking off and I can already tell you it has a whole host of wonderful wines to boast about! During the evaluation at the National Wine Competition we all focused on the task in hand and adopted a critical stance. However once the tallying of points was over, we all clinked glasses and exchanged views as to which of the exhibited wines we favoured over others. And I can tell you it made for quite a long list! Here in the Czech Republic the harvest has been modest over the past few years but it is all the more delicious as a result. That which nature succeeding in creating, the vine turned to grape and winemakers into a subsequently delicious vintage.

It's Christmas, and also the end of the year, both events of which surely provide sufficient reason for us to wish each other good fortune and for saying things we sincerely mean. We are all going to need fortune that's for sure. And it's a big assumption for us to hope that the forthcoming holiday season will not only bring good fortune, but also happiness. In this issue you'll read about how this year's crop from the Moravian vineyards is of excellent quality despite the low yield of grapes.
And from the heart we hope that next year will be a better one for both for you and us. And who knows it could even end up being the best yet. Let's drink to that.
Cheers!

Your publisher

We would like to apologise to our foreign subscribers today for not being able to provide the traditional English version of our editorial. Panic swept across the Czech Republic recently due to a scandal involving methyl alcohol which had been added to the cheapest counterfeit spirits resulting in the death of thirty people consuming the lethal mix. The government subsequently imposed a ban on the sale of distilled liquor and ordered for additional steps to be taken. Although we have never aspired to be a political magazine, the situation has urged us to express our views on the matter in greater detail. It is because of this that today's editorial appears only in Czech. Our sincerest apologies go out to our foreign readers for this. By next time, everything will return to normal. And hopefully we'll be able to say the same about the spirits…

     Wine brings much pleasure to many people.
     Thanks to the success stories of our winemakers, six child oncological patients got to experience an unforgettable school summer holiday this year at the curative centre, Camp Good Days and Special Times in the USA. The six-page report has been written by the children themselves. It's amazing what great wine and the wonderful results of winemakers are capable of achieving! It's not about the actual medals - this where the real triumph of Moravian and Slovak wines lies - having earned themselves standing ovations in Rochester. They truly deserve credit, admiration, congratulations and heartfelt thanks!
     Many thanks!

     Almost in the blink of an eye wine has suddenly become a political topic. Winemakers have started to unite, fighting against increases to the current 0% consumer tax rate.
     Wine has also managed to catch attention from within the non-wine making public thanks to a certain governor in the South Moravia 'wine' region having exploited the drink for his own political gain, not forgetting the Central Bohemian representative who found an ingenious second use for his empty wine box as a safe deposit.
     Despite this, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best - may you have a great summer with new issue of SOMMELIER in hand, accompanied by superb wines and undeterred by politics!

     The idea came to me recently that wine must be the most sporting of all drinks. And it's fair to say we find a fair few sport fanatics among winemakers.
     Thiss issue is full of international wine competitions and goos news.
     The best news is, Czech Republic will host to the 1st tome in the history the Intaretional competition under OIV auspices - the VI. Sauvignon Forum in june!"
     In this issue, we have dedicated the greatest amount of space to a competition which few people know about here in the Czech Republic, Moravia and Slovakia - the American Finger Lakes International Wine Competition. Aside from a gold and silver, the event managed to secure many better times ahead for children with cancer plus bag an invitation to America for six children from the Czech Republic and Slovakia! Here's to the benefits of good wine!

    In our final issue from last year we placed surveys into the magazine which we used to establish what kind of magazine you would like to see in the future and how you rated our work in the past. The last time we conducted a similar survey was four years ago.
    We'd like to thank you for your wishes in terms of how to proceed from here.
    We enjoy producing a magazine which you enjoy reading.
    And be rest assured, we will do our utmost to ensure you continue to like it. Several readers among you all have also been picked out of our prize draw and been rewarded with nice prizes. Ultimately though, it can be said that we are all WINNERS.