Radikon Slatnik wine bottle

Radikon Slatnik 2023 Magnum

Radikon
$105.00

Grape: Chardonnay, Tocai Friulano
Vintage: 2023
Type: Orange

Presented in a magnum format for slow development, this skin-contact orange wine is an estate blend of chardonnay and tocai friulano. Winemaker Saša Radikon utilizes low-intervention protocols, allowing the hand-picked fruit to undergo a ten-to-twelve day skin maceration inside traditional wood vats. Spontaneous fermentation relies on native wild yeasts without temperature control or chemical alterations. It matures for a year and a half on its fine lees inside large neutral oak casks before being bottled unfined and unfiltered with zero added sulfur.

It glows with a slightly hazy amber-orange hue, releasing intricate aromatics of dried apricot, candied orange peel, wild honey, and damp chamomile. A medium-bodied frame balances a broad texture with a core of laser-sharp, mineral acidity. The skin contact imparts a beautiful grip of fine-grained, tea-like tannins that masterfully shapes the mouthfeel cleanly. It concludes with a long, bone-dry finish that leaves a trail of crushed stone.

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.