Wines to pair with Czech cuisine, from svíčková to koprovka

Czech food, beer, and Prague in the palm of your hand

The dishes of palace kitchens and days gone by are making a return. Come to Kuchyň at Prague Castle, stop by the stove, and let them serve you what takes your fancy. Head chef Marek Janouch cooks according to the wisdom of old recipe books, rediscovering forgotten ingredients. On the terrace, you'll find carefully poured beer, and the city in the palm of your hand.

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When you order beer at a restaurant specialising in Czech cuisine, you’re staying true to tradition. However, if the waiter brings you a wine list, it’s worth taking a look. While lager is great for quenching your thirst, it tends to wash away the flavour potential of the dish. In contrast, wine — if chosen well — can enhance and bring out the flavours of the food and its ingredients.

Since most Czech dishes are hearty and full of flavour, it’s often assumed that full-bodied red wines are the ideal pairing. But that’s not necessarily the case. Wines that add freshness and lightness to the meal will work much better.

“Czech cuisine isn’t all that different from Italian cuisine from regions like Tuscany or Piedmont. These regions are known for their wines, and pairing them with the heavier local dishes is a natural fit. Likewise, wine is the perfect companion to Czech classics such as svíčková, or roasted pork belly. If we choose a wine with light acidity, we can use it to lighten these dishes,” says Lukáš Mohorko, sommelier at the Prague restaurant Kuchyň. 

A comparison with Tuscan cuisine leads us to the question of whether traditional Czech dishes should be paired only with wines from the Czech Republic — or, more specifically, Moravia. According to Lukáš Mohorko, local winemakers are constantly improving the quality of their products, so pairing them with domestic wines is a natural choice.

At the same time, however, the standard of Czech gastronomy is rising; it often rivals that of French or Italian cuisine, so Lukáš wouldn’t hesitate to reach for foreign wines either. One example is svíčková, which pairs perfectly with Tuscan wines.

The importance of acidity

If we were to highlight one general rule for pairing wines with Czech cuisine, we’d reiterate that it’s best to choose fresh wines with light acidity. When paired with rich dishes, acidity is an important characteristic, as such a wine can lighten the dish. 

Slow-roasted meats are perfectly complemented by a juicy red wine with natural acidity. For creamy sauces like dill sauce (koprovka), it’s best to choose a fuller-bodied, creamier white wine, such as a Chardonnay. This pairs perfectly with the sweet-and-sour dill sauce, as do orange wines. “The freshness and floral notes of orange wines highlight the flavour of dill, and the tannins in the finish prolong the dish’s flavour on the palate,” adds Lukáš Mohorko.

A Viennese veal schnitzel fried in oil pairs perfectly with Austrian Veltliner wines from the Wachau region; and for svíčková, the sommelier recommends a fuller-bodied red wine with prominent acidity. Ideally, an Italian Sangiovese or Chianti Classico, which will enhance the juiciness of the meat, while the acidity will lighten the sauce and simultaneously bring out the flavour of the cranberries.

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For roasted pork belly and other similarly fatty dishes, the Burgundian variety Aligoté or Savagnin from the Jura region is the perfect pairing. Both wines possess acidity and minerality that help cut through the richness of the dish.

You might be surprised to learn that St. Martin’s Day goose served with sauerkraut and dumplings doesn't make an ideal pair with St. Martin's wine. “It’s a young, essentially unfinished wine lacking character. Although it’s fruity and easy to drink, it has nothing to offer when paired with food. St. Martin’s goose deserves an elegant red wine, such as a Moravian Pinot Noir or Frankovka, which has a lovely spiciness on the finish,” advises Lukáš Mohorko. 

Blood sausage with red wine, schnitzel with sparkling

Pork blood sausage, headcheese, and crackling pair well with full-bodied red wines, such as Svatovavřinecké or Merlot. According to Lukáš, there’s no need to shy away from white wines either, but keep in mind that pig-slaughter dishes have bold flavours. The wine must match this intensity, for example, an elegant white with a light minerality would be completely overshadowed when paired with the food. 

Sparkling wines are in a category of their own. They don’t have to serve just as a toast; they can be paired with virtually any course. Lukáš swears by the combination of bubbles and fried dishes — the light minerality of sparkling wines pairs perfectly with a pork schnitzel.

Pairing sparkling wines with desserts, such as strawberry sorbet, is also delightful. Such a pairing at the end of a tasting dinner can lighten up the entire menu. Sparkling wines are also excellent with other sweet dishes of Czech cuisine — buns with cream, poppy seed rolls, or fruit dumplings drizzled with butter and sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. “At Kuchyň, in addition to sparkling wines, we also like to serve Ryšák with fruit dumplings. It’s a wine made from both white and red grape varieties, so it combines the freshness of white wines with the fruitiness of red ones,” adds Lukáš Mohorko.

Drink what you enjoy

And the most important piece of advice to wrap things up? Simply drink what you like. “If you want to have red wine with fish, go ahead. The main thing is to be aware of the flavour profile of both the food and the wine and whether they can complement each other. Experiment, taste, and think about the flavours. Wine pairing is like seasoning a dish, and the most interesting part is the transformation of the flavour in each bite. If that doesn’t happen, then the pairing isn’t working. The wine must add value — it should tie the ingredients in the dish together, highlight a specific one, lighten the course, or enhance the experience in some other way. That’s the added value of wine pairing. There shouldn’t be a battle at the table; one shouldn’t overpower the other. The goal is harmony and mutual enhancement of flavours,” concludes Lukáš Mohorko.