Bratislava, November 29 (TASR) - Slovak sparkling wine Palffy Extra Dry from Nitra was awarded a gold medal at one of the world's most prestigious competitions of sparkling wines 'Effervescents du Monde 2010' in Dijon, France earlier this month, Vino Nitra production director Jozef Adamovic told TASR on Monday.

      A total of 518 wines from 24 countries featured in the eighth year of the competition.
      "It's a huge success for our sparkling wine. Only 40 gold medals were awarded in total, of which 24 went to French wines. Receiving gold in such a tough competition with wines from Champagne is an immense success for Slovakia," said Adamovic.
      Slovakia has been the first country in Europe that followed the path of the French region of Champagne in production of sparkling wines by using the method called 'champenoise' - fermentation of the wine in bottles.
      According to a legend, sparkling wine in Slovakia was first made by a wounded Napoleonic soldier returning from the Russian front, who fell in love with a nurse in Presporok (then name for Bratislava). The love with this woman and wine from the Low Carpathian region kept the soldier in Slovakia for the rest of his life.

      bub/tm

Keywords: Exp-Sr-France-Eco-Palffy-Wine-Sparkling-Medal-Gold
Source: 20101129TBB00607 - http://195.46.72.16/free/jsp/search/view/ViewerPure_en.jsp?Document=..%2F..%2FInput_text%2Fonline%2F10%2F11%2Ftbbubti270155.dat.1%40Fondy&QueryText=