Radikon

Oslavje, Friuli, Italy

Even though Oslavje is in Italy, the Slavic influence is felt throughout. While walking through the vines a mix of English, Italian and Slovenian can be heard, and most road signs are trilingual as well. Some of the Radikon parcels are so close to the Slovenian border that previous vineyard workers assert they were watched by border guards during the war. The area is covered by a patchwork of agricultural products, dotted with a few houses and small businesses. It all has a sleepy feel, but the buzz around the handful of well-known wineries in the area definitely adds a bit of energy. The Radikon family continues to draw interpretation from both countries' cultures, cuisines and winemaking traditions.

In the vineyards, Saša intentionally keeps yields very low, aiming for four to five clusters per vine. Because there is so much rain in the area, this low ratio is necessary to ensure concentrated grapes. In most parcels, the vines produce less than one kilo of grapes per vine. Saša practices green harvesting, removing leaves so grapes don’t touch, avoiding mildew and similar problems. He also takes the leaves off after flowering to encourage air flow. Most of the vines are trained on a high guyot system, with grapes at the bottom and a protective cover of leaves on top.

In skin-contact wines, the actual grape skins play a crucial role because, unlike the flesh inside, the skins reflect their contact with the sun, rain and air. So for each vintage, Saša carefully records the weather throughout the year and notes the resulting effects on the skins.

The soils here are ponca, which has the appearance of a rock, but is actually compressed clay. Most of the vines are on steep slopes which are terraced to avoid landslides from heavy rains. The clay soils are shallow and hold too much water, so the terraces help direct water out and away rather than down. The rows are spaced apart so each vine will benefit from sun exposure no matter what time of day, aspect or angle of the parcel. Occasionally cover crops are needed, but most of the vineyards are wild, and cut three or four times a year. Saša uses the clippings to help make his own compost.

On the use of sulphur, Saša says he prefers not to use it, but will if he needs to.

“This (avoiding Sulphur) is not religion. If the wine has problems, I will think about what I can do to solve it. But if we don’t have problems, it doesn’t make sense to me to add it” he says. Even in his grandfather’s time sulphur was avoided, but simply because it was expensive, and they soon discovered it was unnecessary, as the added tannins from the maceration were a natural preservative – creating natural protection against spoilage.

Radikon’s vast subterranean cellar is a practical as it is striking. It maintains naturally a temperature of 10°C in winter and 16-18°C during the ferment period over the summer. The back wall of cellar is pure ponca, which ensures the humidity in the cellar is stable, with very little variation. Yet Saša insists some change in conditions is important, "The wine must feel the seasons change outside. If not, it will not age. Just like us, it must evolve and change with the seasons."

The cellar includes a plethora of different barrels – from 6 to 40HL. “We have to have different sizes because the wines need different things,” he says. But, contrary to the belief that all skin-contact wines use amphorae, Saša uses onlywood. He says wood is ideal because it, “…respects the wine but doesn’t change it.” He also employs long ageing periods to round and soften the wines.

The domaine has opened a lovely tasting room with a view overlooking the valley and a small guest house to host visitors. Saša would like to expand his plantings, but says it is difficult to find new parcels, as the good sites are already taken or sadly not for sale. He has recently planted some vines in Slovenia, though he remains tight-lipped on what he has planned for those grapes. We can’t wait to see – and taste – what he creates next.

In the meantime, we are pleased to offer an extensive collection of Radikon’s back vintages, covering the 12 years of our collaboration with Saša and his extraordinary wines.