Of Radikon, in Oslavia, in the heart of Collio Goriziano, just 3 kilometers from the Italian-Slovenian border, are famous wine choices that over the years have led this winery to fire wines that, as they like to repeat, “not everyone likes”. In fact, what Stanko Radikon has tried to tell, throughout his life, through his wines, is nothing more than truth, sincerity and respect for his land, passing these values to his son Saša, current owner. It all began around 1949, when Stanko’s father first planted Ribolla, a particularly problematic grape variety for winemaking as it is the first to bud and the last to mature. Even if already in the ’60s and ’70s the Radikon family timidly begins to sell the surplus of bulk wine, it is however in the mid-80s that Stanko takes the reins of the company and clearly specifies its enological direction.
The story of Stanko as a producer, rather similar to that of Gravner, begins with the creation of wines inspired by the utmost technical cleanliness but which seem almost soulless to him. It is in this way that by first studying the Ribolla he desumes that to exalt it it’s necessary that its skins, so thick and fragile, are macerated together with the must for rather long times, allowing them to give up the olfactory but also gustatory richness (tannins in the first place) that enclose. We are in 1991 and already in 1995 the winemaker makes a further drastic choice ahead of time: the total abandonment of chemistry in the vineyard and sulphites in the process of winemaking. Today Saša carries on this type of viticulture which obviously contemplates the maximum of naturalness even during the vinification phase: the very few bunches per plant ferment naturally and by means of indigenous yeasts. As for bottling, are adopted one-litre bottles because the classic Bordeaux 0.75l bottles did not have the right shape to accommodate the cork invented by Radikon: longer and with a smaller diameter, in order to use the most tender part of cork, the one less attackable by funguses.
Despite the production of this winery is mainly based on white wines, are also vinified red wines such as Merlot, Pignolo and Pinot Noir. From the latter variety, in a 25-year-old vineyard of just 60 ares, with a density of about 6000 vines per hectare, lying on soil formed by the typical Ponka (sandstone clays that deep become hard like rock but remain friable and draining on the surface) was born Modri wine, the name by which it simply means Pinot Noir in Oslavia. The grapes, manually harvested with extreme care, are sent to the cellar where, after a careful destemming and crushing, ferment and macerate from 3 to 4 months in truncated oak vats, with just 3/4 manual fulling. The resulting wine, usually less than 1500 liters, is then left to age in used barriques for 5 years, with some racking where necessary, and in the bottle for the next 5 years, before marketing.
The 2009 vintage has a ruby color with some orange streaks, and an olfactory fan that opens on hints of sour cherry, black cherry, red currant and bitter orange, followed by wilted rose, laurel, green branch of cinchona and undergrowth, with empyrumatic and slightly oxidized final echoes. The palate is decidedly fresh, with a great dynamism and a good mineral sapidity; all enriched by the return of red fruit and slightly oxidized notes that accompany the sip to a very long finish.
Rating: 89/100
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