Radikon has pulled out ahead to become one of the breakout stars of the trendy orange wine category - orange wines being made from white grapes that have prolonged skin contact and oxidation giving it its characteristic orange tint. 

Orange wines might be only now just getting their well-deserved moment of spotlight, but this has been thousands of years in the making, having in fact originated in the ancient world (from countries such as modern-day Georgia). It is in fact a rather traditional wine that was once produced in clay amphora or similar vessels. Today some of the most exciting orange wines come from Friuli-Venezia Giulia in Northeast Italy, an area that is incredibly close to the Slovenian border, with many of its winemakers sporting Slovenian heritage, and thus their wines bear similar markers.

Four Generations Of Radikon; A Return To Tradition

Radikon is one such example. Radikon's 18-hectare vineyards, sitting in the Isonzo area of the region, were first planted by Franz Mikulus, originally growing a local grape variety Ribolla Gialla (once considered Italy's finest white grapes, enjoyed by Venetian nobles) which was meant for producing wines for the family's own enjoyment. Nevertheless it was Stanko Radikon, Mikulus' grandson, who began to make wines for sale in earnest in the mid 1970's. Stanko's parents had inherited the property from Mikulus and had already begun toying with the idea of expanding production and producing wines for sale, however it was ultimately Stanko's conviction in producing skin-contact wines (orange wines!) made with local grapes (such as that Ribolla Gialla) that really garnered Radikon its international acclaim.

Stanko Radikon was quite the rebel and yet deeply traditionalist at heart.

For two decades, Stanko had produced wines closer to that of a standardised style that would be more familiar to consumers, however by the 1990's he had decided to bring back extended skin maceration which was a style used by his grandfather, and had also desired to deliver more of a sense of the local terroir which meant utilising the local grapes he had grown up around. This ultimately produced wines that had intense and often times considerably "funky" flavours that feature more rustic flavours as a result - the orange wines produced can nevertheless age well even 20 years on, with sufficient structure and tannins that over time soften and give way to more tertiary flavours. Enjoyed young they deliver freshness, rustic purity and acidity.

Unfortunately, Stanko passed in 2016, however his son Saša had already by then largely taken over the family's winemaking. Where Stanko had brought Radikon back to its roots, Saša has raised the quality of Radikon's wines to that of being world class. Having studied oenology, Saša brought with him a clear sense of what was needed for the family's vineyards, as well as a strong desire to experiment with the way vinification is done.

Saša has brought his own mark upon the family's vineyards.

Up To Mark In The Vineyards; Experimental In The Cellars

In the vineyards, yields are kept low with the practice of green harvesting (the removal of clusters early on), with about 4-5 clusters per vine (totalling less than 1 kilo per vine), allowing the remaining fruit to concentrate its flavours, particularly crucial as the area experiences high levels of rainfall. Leaves are removed after flowering to allow for greater airflow, with the vines trained on a high guyot system. Particularly as prolonged skin contact is a key component of producing orange wines, the skins of the grapes require much attention and must itself be carefully cultivated through the season. A combination of local varieties such as Ribolla Gialla, Fruiliano and Pignolo, as well as more international varieties such as Merlot, Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio, are grown on the family's vineyards.

Radikon is bringing back popularity to local varieties such as Ribolla.

The soils here are also worth taking note of, as they're uniquely known as ponca, where they look like rocks but are actually compressed clay. This results in fruit that have well-structured tannins, but also present a challenge in the rainy area as the clay soils tend to be shallow, holding on to water. Thus the vines have to be terraced to avoid landslides that can occur as a result of strong rains. Here Saša tries to work the vineyards as naturally as possible, allowing the vineyards to remain wild, whilst using compost to fertilise the soils. Vineyard activities are even timed to follow lunar phases, and given the variety of different grapes grown, harvesting windows vary greatly and can require up to a laborious eight weeks of harvest each year.

Once the fruit is harvested, it's time for something much more unconventional - skins are left on the grapes for as long as up to four months, which not only intensifies the flavours, but also imparts a significant influence of tannins on the wines. This prolonged maceration leaves room for highly complex and unique flavours to emerge, but also makes the process delicate and vulnerable to faults given its organic and natural quality. This means that much attention is needed to monitor the process year-round. On top of that, Saša tends to avoid using sulphur for his wines, which again leaves less room for faults, yet he believes that the elevated tannins from the extended skin contact is sufficient to serve as a natural preservative.

Great Lengths To Produce Experimentally Traditional Wines That Taste Of Oslavia

Over the years Saša has continued to experiment with various maceration periods, vinification methods, barrel sizes and even different blends. All of this goes into Radikon's subterranean cellars (built entirely of ponca, the local soil) which run at a naturally cool temperature range of between 10°C - 16°C over the seasons. Here the wines age for extended lengths as well, necessary to round and soften the wines, whilst also having sufficient time to be exposed to some extent to the changing seasons which Saša believes is key to the wines ageing.

Interestingly Saša has even gone so far as to design his own bottles so as to ensure his wines are aged optimally, where the bottles are slim and with a narrow neck (filled to either half-litre or a full litre, instead of 750ml), allowing for a smaller 15mm cork to be used, all of which works to mirror the same bottle ageing conditions as a standard wine magnum.

And so with all that said, today we're going to try Radikon's Slatnik, which is an 80% Chardonnay and 20% Tocai Friulano blend. It undergoes a 10 day maceration period with natural yeasts, with the cap manually punched in several times a day to ensure the skins are always in contact with the wine. The wine ages in Slavonian oak casks for about 15 months, before 2 more months of bottle ageing, after which it is ready to be consumed.

Let's give this a go!

Radikon Slatnik 2020 - Review

Tasting Notes

Colour: Amber, Honey, Orange

Aroma: Big aromatic barnyard notes - it’s a plume of horse fur, tobacco leaves, well worn greased up industrial bits - along with a wash of coarsely crushed raspberries, florals of roses and violets. It’s bright, alittle smoky, and quite funky with all this raw energy - it’s rich, forward and with a good depth, but also really mellow. With time, some hits of raw scallops and freshly sliced breakfast ham emerges as well.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, really smooth, there’s alot going on here, all really cohesive - definitely giving a very natural feel to it. Breaking it down, we’ve got crushed raspberries, oranges, it’s alittle reminiscent to mulled wine, that sort of light berry sweetness with this outline of cooked oranges. Also more on crushed cherries, rhubarb pie filling. It’s got a good richness to it with these red and lightly sweet top note, with a more neutral but clean and thicker mid-palate, almost reminiscent of spring water. Of course, the funkiness is still present, hay, alittle bit of grease, and soil too - it’s all mixed in there. It’s got a good richness but remains fairly clean and light, so many layers but yet somehow still feels understatedly straightforward.

Finish: More brett notes of animal hide, well worn industrial parts like a heavily used smoky engine, hay, tobacco leaves. It keeps that cleanness to it, accented by some more light oranges and rhubarb stewed in syrup.

My Thoughts

Really interesting attention grabbing wine here - it’s got alot going on as you’re having it, and they’re all very well woven together so it’s alittle difficult to single out the flavours. Yet in hindsight it sort of feels pretty straightforward - it’s really an experiential complexity that goes beyond just the flavours itself. What’s most prominent here is the Brett (or Brettanomyces, a type of natural yeast known for producing funky barnyard or “horsey” notes) which is giving off all these funky barnyard notes that drives home the rustic rawness and purity and cements that touch and feel of being a natural wine - here though it’s very aromatic and harnessed incredibly well, it’s big and bold but not ever overwhelming or overly funky. It’s really well played here

And while the Brett is the most attention catching note, we’ve got to remember that there’s also lots of red fruits here that comes off again clean, lightly sweet, very gentle, outlined by this citrusy note as well. Very nice richness but also pretty clean, vibrant and “natural” feeling on the palate. I really like how it balances that contrast, and at the same time delivers that rustic quality with great intensity and forwardness. I’m not getting any tannins here, but the wine does have some structure and firmness, not just sort of smattered everywhere, it’s got tension to its body and a nice energy about it too (although I do kind of wish it was even more energetic), driving those flavours across.

Altogether a really tasty wine - the aroma on the nose can be alittle much if you’re only just trying out natural wines or getting a sense of that Brett quality - but trust me, ignore your nose for a second, take a good sip and have all those flavours push across. Really lovely wine!