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GASTRONOMY & SOMMELLERIE

WhatsApp or chat on the web - as you like. We in Prague still that very evening. We all speak
are available every working day between 9 am English but we can also help you in French,
and 5 pm. Italian and German languages as well.
We will advise you on the choice as if you The last sentence is crucial. The expat com-
were in a restaurant. We will offer you wines munity numbers tens of thousands in Prague
from CZK 200 per bottle, domestic and foreign, alone and hundreds of thousands in the coun-
the entire extensive selection of Vinograf. try. Not everyone has mastered the Czech lan-
Wine for the evening? guage. We are also happy to represent small
Our wine assistants will advise you and offer family wineries that cannot answer them.
wine and suitable delicacies from our menu, It is better to entrust it to those who know
which go well with the wines selected. We will how to speak eruditely about wine in several
deliver selected wine and possibly food to you languages! ƅ

MOLDOVAN HOPE

Mihail Druţá
President of the Association of Sommeliers of the Republic
of Moldova. Studied Technical University of Moldova,
Technology of wine production.
„I think the choice of my profession has been guided by the
occupation of my parents, who are also in the wine industry.
My father is a winemaker, and he received his knowledge from
his father. The culture of wine is in our blood”.

The future of sommeliers is not as bright Gastronomy is also heavily influenced by the
as in previous years; there is a decline in this global Covid-19 situation, a lot of restaurants
direction, a sommelier is a person who works are empty, and people have other priorities in
in restaurants and is close to the customers. their life, there are a lot less tourists which is
In this period when everything is closed, and creating a negative cash flow in restaurants.
locked down, a lot of people remain without This leaves no need for a sommelier.
any work, and many are leaving to look for Many people are afraid to be infected, that’s
another profession to earn money. Profes- why social life, public events and big social
sional development of the sommelier is also events are limited, including wine tastings
a quite complicated question. The Associati- which is also a form of socializing.
on of Sommeliers of the Republic of Moldova We tried to see if a virtual online tasting
was established in 2011 and includes about 40 would be the solution. Maybe it works well in
professional sommeliers at this point. We are some areas, but for me wine tasting is the way
a non-profit organization and we do not have to meet interesting people with the same in-
many options to help support our members. terests, you can feel and see instant live emo-
We do not run our own restaurant, and even if tions. Unfortunately online tastings could not
it did, it would be closed. provide the same thing. I was disappointed
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