Radikon Slatnik wine bottle

Radikon Slatnik 2022

Radikon
$40.00

Grape: Chardonnay, Tocai Friulano
Vintage: 2022
Type: Orange

This skin-contact orange wine is an artisanal blend of eighty percent chardonnay and twenty percent tocai friulano from Friuli. Sourced from organically farmed vineyards rooted in mineral-dense ponca soils, the fruit is harvested manually at optimal maturity. Winemaker Saša Radikon implements an eight-day skin maceration inside neutral oak vats driven by native vineyard wild yeasts. It undergoes a natural aging process, maturing for a year and a half in large neutral wooden casks before bottling unfiltered without added sulfur.

It displays a bright straw-orange hue, releasing an exotic nose of fresh mint, tangerine, incense, and dried flowers. On the palate, the medium-bodied frame balances an inner fruit sweetness with a sharp line of alpine acidity. Clean flavors of tropical melon and citrus tones interweave with a core of fine lees richness across the tongue. The brief skin contact provides a structural grip that coordinates nicely with finish.

Radikon is one of the foundational names of the modern skin-contact and natural-wine movement. Based in Oslavia, in Friuli near the Slovenian border, the Radikon family built its identity around long macerations for white grapes, minimal sulfur and a deeply traditional approach that had become radical by modern standards. Stanko Radikon helped bring these methods to international attention, and the estate continues under his family with Ribolla Gialla, Jakot, Pinot Grigio and other varieties. The wines are amber, structured and savory, less about novelty than about reviving a borderland culture of patience, texture and uncompromising farming.