From the atlas
Radikon
Saša Radikon farms approximately eighteen hectares of Eocene marl in Oslavia, making amber-hued, long-macerated whites that helped define a new category of Friulian winemaking.
At A Glance
| |
| Region | Friuli-Venezia Giulia |
| Village | Oslavia, Gorizia |
| Main grapes | Ribolla Gialla, Chardonnay, Tocai Friulano, Sauvignon Blanc |
| Signature wine | Oslavje |
| Defining feature | Extended skin maceration on white grapes, without added sulphites |
The Producer
Oslavia is a hamlet at the edge of Gorizia where the Slovenian border runs close enough to shape the farming history. Radikon is based there, on approximately eighteen hectares of steep slopes planted to Ribolla Gialla, Chardonnay, Tocai Friulano, and Sauvignon Blanc. The family has held land in this place since at least 1861, when a deed of sale registered their presence. Stanko Radikon made the first estate bottling in 1980. His son Saša now runs the domaine.
Radikon was among the producers who revived Friuli's tradition of macerating white grapes on their skins, producing wines with amber colour, tannin grip, and the capacity to age that conventional white winemaking had largely abandoned. The long-macerated wines carry no added sulphites. The shorter-macerated S line, launched by Saša in 2009, receives a small addition because its ten-day macerations need it.
Place
Oslavia sits in the western edge of Collio, where the Italian and Slovenian sides of this borderland share the same Eocene soils and the same tradition of extended skin contact on white grapes. The proximity of the border is not incidental: Friuli's amber-wine heritage predates the political division that ran through this landscape, and Oslavia was one of the villages where that tradition survived long enough to be revived. Steep slopes face south and southwest, giving the vines extended sun exposure during the growing season and helping grapes reach full ripeness before the harvest.
Soil And Site
The vineyards sit on Eocene marl, a compressed sedimentary stone that breaks into thin layers under pressure and drains efficiently on steep ground. Marl-grown vines have to push their roots deeper to find moisture and nutrients, and the resulting small yields concentrate flavour in the grapes before they reach the cellar. In the glass, wines from these soils carry a mineral grip and bright acidity that holds through even long maceration periods. The steep aspect also drives air circulation, reducing disease pressure and allowing the estate to minimise vineyard treatments.
Story
By the early 1990s, Stanko Radikon had built a functioning estate with a conventional range of Friulian whites. He grew dissatisfied. The wines, technically correct, no longer felt like they came from this particular place. He began pulling back toward the older regional practice of leaving white grape skins in the fermenting must, extracting the tannin and colour that modern winemaking had engineered out.
In 1995, Ribolla Gialla became the first variety he macerated fully on the skins. He narrowed the rest of the range to Oslavje and Merlot. From 1998 through 2000, he extended maceration times and ageing periods progressively, while reducing the sulphites he added at bottling. In 2002, he fixed the approach: all the long-macerated wines would spend three months on their skins and would carry no added SO2. The cork specification changed at the same time, moving to a higher-performing closure capable of protecting wines that had no sulphite buffer. One-litre and half-litre bottles entered the range, formats better suited to wines that open and evolve over days once uncorked.
Saša joined the work and in 2009 launched the S line, beginning with Pinot Grigio Sivi and Slatnik. These wines use shorter macerations of roughly ten days and receive a small addition of SO2 as a result, distinguishing them from the long-macerated flagship wines.
Vineyards And Cellar
The approximately eighteen hectares adjoin the winery, planted on steep marl slopes. The estate keeps yields low and harvests by hand, picking only at full ripeness. The vine management foregoes chemical additives and minimises treatments, working from the principle that healthy soil produces grapes that need less correction in the cellar.
Fermentation happens with the grape skins remaining in the must. The long-macerated wines spend three months on their skins before pressing, then age in barrel before extended bottle ageing brings balance and stability. The S line wines macerate for roughly ten days. Neither line is fined or filtered in ways that would strip the tannin and colour the maceration builds in.
Wines
The range divides into two lines. The flagship wines, including Ribolla Gialla, Oslavje, Jakot, and RS21, spend three months macerating on their skins and carry no added sulphites. They are bottled in one-litre and half-litre formats, practical sizes for wines that benefit from being finished over several days. Oslavje is a white wine from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc with a yellow-orange colour, stone fruit and dried-fruit character, and a mineral finish that comes from the marl soils. RS21 is the red wine in the range, made from Merlot under the Venezia Giulia appellation.
The S line, Slatnik and Sivi Pinot Grigio, uses shorter macerations of about ten days. Slatnik blends 80% Chardonnay with 20% Tocai Friulano. The shorter skin contact gives these wines amber colour and some tannin without the full tannin weight of the three-month wines, and the small SO2 addition stabilises them for the shorter maceration time.
In The Glass
Radikon's long-macerated whites are amber to yellow-orange in colour, picking up pigment and tannin from weeks on the skins. On the nose, Oslavje 2019 opens with yellow peach, apricot, wildflowers, and dried exotic fruit. The palate follows the nose closely, with yellow peach, apricot, dried fruit, and grapefruit, held together by minerality from the marl soils. The tannin from extended maceration sits in the background, giving grip and the capacity to age rather than softening the wine into something obviously smooth.
Slatnik shows differently. The exotic bouquet of incense, dried flowers, tangerine, and fresh mint gives way on the palate to tropical melon and citrus, guided by juicy acidity. It finishes long and fresh, leaving candied grapefruit and spice. The ten-day maceration puts Slatnik in a middle register: more amber and textured than a conventional white, but lighter in its tannin weight than the three-month wines.
A Bottle To Understand It
Slatnik is the right bottle to start with. The 2022 is 80% Chardonnay and 20% Tocai Friulano, macerated on the skins for eight days. The colour is amber, and the nose combines incense, dried flowers, tangerine, and mint, an aromatic profile that announces skin contact clearly. On the palate, tropical melon and citrus come forward alongside juicy acidity, with a long finish of candied grapefruit and spice. It is the S line wine Saša launched in 2009 to give the range an entry point with some of the maceration character but a lighter tannin weight than the three-month wines demand.
Anecdote
In 2001, Stanko Radikon ran a direct trial in his own cellar. He bottled half the year's production without any added sulphites and the other half with the usual minimal dose, leaving the two sets to develop side by side. The comparison was his evidence. The bottles without SO2 held together, and the 2002 decision followed directly from what he observed: all the long-macerated wines would no longer receive sulphites at bottling. The cork specification had to change as well, moving to a higher-performing closure to protect wines that now carried no chemical buffer. One-litre and half-litre bottles entered the range at the same time.
Final Word
Radikon makes white wines that carry tannin, amber colour, and the capacity to age by returning to a Friulian maceration practice that conventional winemaking had abandoned. Saša now runs the estate from the same Oslavia hillside where Stanko made the first bottling in 1980.
Sources
- https://www.radikon.it/en/
- https://www.radikon.it/en/history/
- https://mysa.wine/pages/producer-profile/radikon
- https://primalwine.com/blogs/natural-wine-producers-primal-wine/radikon-stankos-legacy-continues
- https://www.lessismorewines.com/products/radikon-slatnik-2022
- https://panachesweden.se/vinodlare/radikon/
- https://www.saq.com/en/14712869