In a country known for its love of beer, getting into the wine business may not seem like a very lucrative venture.

But don't tell that to Roman Ždárský and Jindřich Sobota. The two entrepreneurs from Jablonec nad Nisou, a town about 140 kilometers (87 miles) north of Prague, built from scratch one of the country's most successful wine importing and production companies, Soare Sekt.

The company, which has annual sales of about half a billion crowns, is behind some of the country's most well-known brands, including the Grands Vins d'Alfons Mucha wine collection, which features paintings by the famous artist on their bottles.

In mid-July, Ždárský and Sobota sold their 40 percent stake in the company, which employs around 100 people, to partner Ambra, a Polish company, for 60 million Kč ($3 million). Owned by Sektellerei Schloss Wachenheim of Germany, Ambra is now the sole owner of Soare Sekt and has plans to grow the company even further.

But Ždárský and Sobota aren't completely stepping away from the baby they started more than a decade ago.

"We will definitely stay involved," said Ždárský, who like Sobota will be a member of the board.

The company will likely continue to prosper, according to Jaroslav Machovec, director of the Wine Fund of the Czech Republic.

"Soare Sekt is an important company on our market, and it will remain important in the future," he said.

Fast corks

The history of Soare Sekt dates to 1991, when Ždárský and Sobota, fresh out of university, used 20,000 Kč inherited from Sobota's grandmother to finance their start-up project.

They had their first success a year later. Realizing that the market lacked a high quality children's drink for celebrations and other festive occasions, they developed Rychlé špunty (Fast Corks), a juice-based sparkling beverage, in cooperation with the Research Center for the Packing Industry.

They invested 1 million Kč they got through a loan from a leasing company into promoting the brand, which references a children's adventure book by Jaroslav Foglar, Rychlé šípy (Fast Arrows), popular in the 1930s.

The company started out producing nearly 400,000 bottles of Rychlé špunty a year. Now that figure is more than 2.5 million, and Rychlé špunty is one of the backbones of its business.

In 1994, Soare Sekt changed the drink's name to Robby Bubble to give the brand, which was picking up abroad, more international cache. The company returned to the original name, however, on the Czech and Slovak markets in June.

"People here loved that name," said Hana Verlová, brand manager for Soare Sekt's sparkling wines division. "Even when they were buying Robby Bubble, they were still asking for Rychlé špunty."

Today, Soare Sekt's other brands include imported Russian sekt Rossijskoe Igristoe, Freixenet, vermouth Garrone, a series of Czech wines called Vino Valtice and, of course, the Grands Vins d'Alfons Mucha collection.

Focus on quality

In 1995, Ždárský and Sobota sold a 42 percent stake in the company to Sektkellerei Schloss Wachenheim, which invested in new equipment and helped increase turnover tenfold in a matter of years.

Having the backing of a strong multinational company became crucial for Soare Sekt in 2004, when customs duties on wine imports were lifted after the Czech Republic joined the European Union.

Imports from famed wine-producing countries such as France, Italy, Australia and South Africa now account for more than 50 percent of retail sales here, according to Machovec.

The increased competition is pushing Czech winemakers to look for niche markets to survive.

Soare Sekt is going to focus on high-quality vintage wines such as Pálava, Neronet and André, instead of trying to compete with inexpensive table wines imported from other countries.

"High-quality domestic wines — this is the way to go for Moravian wine-makers," said Robert Kowalski, director of the board. Robert Ogór, Ambra's vice president for production and subsidiaries, said the company sees many opportunities for expanding Soare Sekt's business. "We see a big potential for development, especially for white wines," he said.

Soare Sekt owns about 14 hectares of vineyards in Valtice, south Moravia, and controls 80 percent of the Vinařství Zaječí company, also in south Moravia. The company invested more than 1.2 million euros ($1.5 million/34 million Kč) into new technology last year and plans to put in another 700,000 euros this year, Kowalski said.

"It is always better to invest in your own property," he said, explaining the company's strategy for supporting production of domestic wines, which account for 80 percent of Soare Sekt's revenue, rather than promoting its imports.

For their part, Ždárský and Sobota are optimistic about the company's future.