Milan Nestarec Forks and Knives Red 2022 (750ml)

Grapes: Blaufrankisch, St. Laurent, and Pinot Noir

Vineyard: Loess, sand – blend of different vineyards, Slovenské, Stará hora, Sahary, aged 20 years and up.

Making of: Grapes are hand-harvested, selected on sorting table and destemmed — no crushing, in order to avoid over-extraction. The free-run juice of each variety spontaneously ferments in tanks for 11 days and is then left on skins for 4 more weeks post-fermentation. Aged in big neutral barrels of 3000 liters for about 17 months in order to naturally settle. No sulfur added, no fining, no filtration.

Personality: as Milan puts it himself, “an addictive mix of the pinotish je-ne-sais-quoi and cheeky Moravian spice. Wine to be smashed thoroughly chilled, along with some food – nothing more, nothing less.” (Speaking of which, we imported a limited amount of 2019 magnums too.)

Milan on this wine: “For me & my family, wine is like food, something that should be on your table every day. Our bread and butter (literally). This is the kind of wine I wanna make: affordable, everyday, friendly stuff. Not something for the upper class, not something you need to swirl your glass and head around, talking about viscosity or minerality for ages (no offense, but jeez do I hate this word). My wine is for drinking, not for flashing posh terms. And the Forks & Knives range is a perfect embodiment of this. The F&K range started with the 2014 vintage – I met Fleur Godard, my French importer, in Cologne, along with Justine Saint Lo, a wonderful illustrator who also happens to be the sister of Francois Saint Lo, a great Loire Valley winemaker. Back in my cellar, when tasting the then nearly-born wine, we had a revelation: it was fate that decided Justine should make the labels, which I’ve kept ever since – I love their power to communicate the easy yet entertaining “everyday wine for any meal & table” vibe that this wine is all about.”