Zdeněk Řihák - Winemaker: "In the community of wine cellars where I live, there's around 260, but all of them are just small family cellars. Some of them are without wine and some of them only have 200 to 300 litres of wine, just for the family. There's around 20 small scale wine makers, making something nice and it's always interesting to visit somebody and do a tasting. Usually it's not only about the tasting, but about the friendship and normal things, tasting Riesling and then some singing."

It is only since the Velvet Revolution of 1989 that this region’s wine industry has been able to evolve from a state-owned and operated industry into its modern-day enterprise. Today, Czechia—formerly known as the Czech Republic, and Czechoslovakia before that—is part of the European Union, recognized as a democracy and free market with private, independent ownership of wineries, cellars, and vineyards. Thanks in part to governmental and foreign financial subsidies, this industry is now brimming with innovation and education.