At the Vinohrady Wine Festival

Here we are last Sunday at the Vinohrady Wine Festival. Vinohrady is a beautiful neighborhood in Prague located on land that used to be the King's vineyards. Even today, there are grapes grown on a small hill in Vinohrady. There were two festivals going on that day to celebrate the first Burchak of the season. What exactly is Burchak, you might ask? As we discovered, it is a brownish cloudy beverage that smells vaugely like yeast and tastes more like cider. Burckak is wine that is very early in the fermentation process - thus, the yeast smell. We learned a few valuable lessons about Burchak while at the festival. Lesson 1. It tastes better than it smells or looks. Seriously, it has a mellow apple flavor. I did not want to drink more than one or two of them, but I enjoyed the one I had. Lesson 2. Burchak is sold in plastic liter bottles. Do NOT leave the cap on the bottles. Since the yeast is still active, pressure can build up inside the bottle and explode. Phil was unfortunate enough to be standing next to someone carrying a bottle that exploded. It sounded like a gunshot and sprayed the crowd with Burchak...fun times! Lesson 3. Burchak is not expensive. A glass (or more precisely, each plastic cup) cost 20 ck, about $1. The crowds of people at the festival were happily drinking lots of Burchak. All in all, it was a wonderful fall day in Prague!