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New Radikon release + Romain Le Bars allocation + German Riesling tasting this Saturday 3 - 6PM + Domaine Leflaive

by Annandale Cellars

Radikon

Tucked away in the far-eastern corner of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region lies a small winery called Radikon. You might have heard of them.

Despite its small size and minimal production, Radikon wines have had a major impact in the wine world, through their championing of orange wines and lo-fi, natural winemaking. Their path was set when founder Stanilaus (Stanko) Radikon began his stewardship of the 12 hectares of vines near the Slovenian border. He began to make wine from the local indigenous variety, Ribolla Gialla, but Stanko felt that the pale, fairly unexciting wines being produced throughout the region were not truly indicative of the grape and its potential for flavour. So in 1995 he began to change his methodology. He started with a fairly conservative 7 days of maceration on skins to boost the colour and flavour -something that the DOC didn't agree with. Radikon have been proudly outside of the DOC, and happily declassified since 2001.

Sadly, Stanko passed away in 2016, but his son Saša, stepped in to fill the void. Saša had been working side by side with his father for the 15 years before Stanko's death, so the change over was seamless, and the wines have never looked better. The Radikon philosophy is beautifully simple: "If you have good grapes, you can make good wine. If you have bad grapes, you can only have bad wine," says Saša. "We try to move the sensation you have when you eat the grape to the wine. And the skin keeps the energy from the sun and the information from the vintage. If it was good, if it was bad, if it was rainy, if it was sunny – the skins keep the information and I think it is very important to use that information. "Needless to say, the wines are thrilling and vibrant, complex, layered, filled with energy and vitality, and packed with texture and flavour.

If you've never tried one, perhaps now is the time to get your Radik... on. (Sorry!)

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German Riesling

with Nevada from Cellarhand

Saturday 28th of October

3-6PM

Join us on Saturday to taste through a very special selection of Rieslings from Germany that highlight the different styles, regions and versatility the variety has to offer. We've got a line up of some of our favourite wines from the regions top producers that won't break the bank plus a secret surprise that we will be pouring blind!

We will have the following wines open to taste:

2022 Dr L Dry Riesling 

2022 Gunderloch Fritz’s Riesling 

2022 Wittmann 100 Hugel Riesling

2021 Koelher Ruprecht Kallstadter Kabinett Trocken

2021 Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett

 

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Romain Le Bars

Romain Le Bars is one of those producers that seems to have struck gold. For such a young producer the wines have become increasingly sought after by those in the know. I guess it helps a lot when his previous employer and mentor, Eric Pffiferling of Domaine L’Anglore is mentioned too. 

Romain is a Paris native who decided wine was his thing and ended up getting a job with Eric Pfifferling at Domaine L’Anglore as his first gig, spending 7 years working for the family and becoming very close friends with Eric and his family. 

In 2018 Romain was lucky enough to “find” a 1.2 hectare parcel of vines in Tavel and so began his journey as a vigneron. He was still working for Eric during this time so his weekends were spent restoring his vineyard and getting everything ready for the first harvest. Assisted by Thibault, Eric’s son he vinified his first wine in his garage and produced 3000 bottles for his first release. His holdings have continued to grow since, focusing on Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre with small amounts of Carignan, Cinsault and some white varieties too. 

His mentor’s influence is clear across all the wines as they share the same light yet detailed touch across all the cuvees preferring to seek vibrancy, energy and freshness over power and richness. These wines are allocated to us in small quantities once a year so this is your chance to get them before they are gone for another year. - Pete L 

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Domaine Leflaive & Associés

Established in 1717 by Joseph Leflaive, the Domaine has a rich history, but its recent evolution owes a significant debt to Anne-Claude Leflaive, Joseph's grand-daughter, who assumed the role of manager from 1994 until her untimely passing in 2015. Brice, Anne-Claude's nephew now carries on the legacy. Domaine Leflaive stands as a testament to Anne-Claude's unwavering commitment to biodynamic farming practices. The exploration of biodynamic methods at Domaine Leflaive commenced in the early nineties, with full adoption and endorsement taking place in 1997. Initially, Anne-Claude's primary concern was the land's long-term sustainability, but the benefits extended well beyond the vineyards, resulting in remarkable enhancements in the quality of the final wines. This was a welcomed, unintended, and wholly surprising bonus.

The Domaine is widely regarded as the benchmark producer in Puligny-Montrachet thanks to Anne-Claude's work. This commitment to their origins is equally evident in their Meursault offerings all the way to their wines from Mâcon-Verzé and Pouilly-Fuissé which we have just received and offer today. These wines are vinified with same attention to detail and come from a mixture of sites with vines dating back to the 1960s. The wines are aged in a mixture of vessels including oak (old and new), cement eggs and stainless steel and are destined to be enjoyed at a younger age compared to their other wines which ideally spent some time in the cellar to develop.

We've not had these wines in the fridges for long but already the feedback on them has been stellar! Those that have tried this release have loved so fans of great White Burgundy can buy these with confidence. - Pete L

 

 

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