RADIKON - Slatnik 2018
Radikon is located at Oslavia (Province of Gorizia) in in the Collio Goriziano zone of Friuli-Venezia Giulia in Italy, on the border with Slovenia. It was established by former winemaker Stanislao “Stanko” Radikon, who died aged 62 in 2016. Extended fermentations and long aging are hallmark of this producer; in 1995 Stanko returned to his grandfather’s methods, beginning to give his white wines seven days of skin contact during fermentation to obtain more intensity of flavour and colour. As he experimented further the duration of macerations and fermentations, and of aging, increased. These methods allowed for sulphur additions to be, depending on the wine, eradicated or minimalised. The design of the bottle is unusual, in either 500ml or 1 litre, and the bottle neck and cork are narrow to replicate the proportions of a magnum, which is generally considered to be the optimum format for ageing. The 11-hectare vineyard is located on very steep slopes which are difficult to work. Therefore, all processes are carried out by hand and no pesticides or chemicals are used.
Slatnik is a blend of Chardonnay (80%) and Tocai Friulano (20%). The harvest is manual and after removing the stems from the grapes, they are placed in barrels where the maceration is maintained for 10 days without controlling the temperature or adding chemical yeasts. The cap is manually punched 2 to 3 times a day so that the skins of the grapes are always in contact with the wine. After racking, the wine rests in Slavonian oak casks of 25 to 35 hectoliters where the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations end, for about 15 months. The wine is aged in the bottle 2 months before being put on sale.
Grape varieties: 80% Chardonnay, 20% Tocai Friulano
Purchase limited to 1 bottle