Radikon Venezia Giulia Slatnik

Sasa Radikon makes some of the world’s best orange wines from his vineyards in Friuli, near the Slovenian border. Orange wine, or skin contact, production was widespread here until the 1960s when Italian white winemaking became all about freshness, cleanliness and precision, but now producers like Radikon and Gravner are right at the forefront of the re-emergence of the style and are viewed as the benchmarks. Sasa works along biodynamic principles and without the addition of Sulphur Dioxide

The Slatnik is a blend of 80% Chardonnay and 20% Friulano, given 8 days skin contact followed by a year in barrel. This is from his S range, or “introduction to skin contact”  - other wines see 2-4 months on skins. An extraordinary nose of apricot jam, almond, dried orange, green tea and marzipan. Plump, creamy  palate yet shot through with contrasting mineral acidity and incredible length.