Slatnik

Italy
Friuli
2022

80% Chardonnay/20% Tocai Friulano. Radikon's 750ml bottlings, known informally as the "S" line,  are Sasa Radikon's addition to his dad Stanko's original 500ml line: they are still "orange" wines but less intensely so due to a shorter period of skin contact and aging. Otherwise, all of the wines are made identically:  the Chardonnay and Sauvignon are destemmed, crushed and co-fermented with natural yeasts in oak vat, with no temperature control and no sulfur. Maceration lasts for 10-14 days (versus 2.5-3 months for the flagship wines). After a gentle pressing, the wine is put in 6000-liter Friulian-made French oak botti for a year on its lees; it is bottled with a tiny amount of sulfur and without filtration and then aged in bottle for a year before release. Slatnik is named for a nearby village. 

92 points
"The 2022 Bianco Slatnik is wild with an exotic bouquet of incense and dried flowers, tangerine and hints of fresh mint. This opens with a pretty inner sweetness that gives way to tropical melon and citrus tones, all guided by juicy acidity. It finishes with admirable length and is potent yet still remarkably fresh, leaving traces of candied grapefruit and spice. This is an intense vintage of Slatnik, yet the balance cannot be denied. It’s a blend of 80% Chardonnay and 20% Tocai Friulano that spends eight days macerating on the skins."
Eric Guido,
Vinous Media
December 2023

SKU/Code: 
DB8336-22
Product Line: 
Wine
Orange
Varietal: 
Chardonnay
Farming Type: 
Organic