2019MilanNestarecTRBLMKRMoravia,CzechRepublic

<p>“This is basically me, bottled. A wine so important and characteristical of who I am that I use it instead of business cards. Not love at first sight, but if you’re on the same wavelength, you might become friends for life. Not a big talker, more of a thinker. But opens up and even cracks jokes when surrounded by like-minded people.”</p><p>“This wine is always based on Neuburger (Neuburské), the once-popular local variety that’s IMHO perfectly adapted to our soil. During the communist era, it was a popular <em>piquette</em> ingredient (pejoratively called “seconds” in Czech), as its fleshy berries are difficult to press and hence are prone to leave a lot of raw material in the pomace for a second serve. Nowadays, the grape is sadly disappearing, mostly due to its lower yields and compact grape, which makes it prone to rot. Case in point: when my father was looking for rootstock in 2001, there was a feeding frenzy for vines, but nobody wanted Neuburger, so we kind of went for what was left– and I couldn’t be happier now.”</p><p>“Flavour-wise, it’s rather neutral, but give it a bit of time to rest in the bottle and the reward and tertiary aromatics are just mind-blowing. As I said, if you want an instant crowd-pleaser, you’ll have to look elsewhere; if you like wines that encourage some exploration and reflection, this is probably right up your alley.”</p><p>2019 is a single vineyard field-blend, based on Neuburger, supported by 5% Malvasia. The grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. Gently stomped by foot and left to macerate on skins overnight. Spontaneous fermentation for 2 months with indigenous yeast in 3000-liter old barrels, where it then lays undisturbed for ~2 years on its fine lees. No fining or filtration, with cca 5ppm of sulfur at bottling. </p><p>