Majesty without a crown. Reassurance. Embrace. Uplift and encouragement.
Achtele, Bilovice. Loess. Traminer.
This wine was born in 2017 to be paired with Asian cuisine that both I and my wife love so much – cherchez la faim! Originally a blend, now pure Traminer. This variety is one of the oldest ever, the ancestor of many other ones, so I always see the barrel as the "queen bee" of my cellar.
The Achtele vineyard is a historic site that can give a truly balanced Traminer – it forms an amphitheatre which naturally leads to less airflow and a tendency to botrytis in the lower part of the vineyard, while the upper part ripens more slowly. We try to preserve this contrast in the wine itself – the result is an unexpected harmony of opulence and laser-sharp acidity that calls for yet another explorative sip.
Wanna drink this? These are the guys to ask where to get my wine in your country, or buy our brand new White Labels 2021 Tasting pack here.
The White Labels are our top-shelf wines, the pinnacle of our work. Hailing from our most interesting micro-locations, oldest vines, and often field blends. This unique energy is preserved by the gentlest treatment and several years of undisturbed ageing in our cellar. Minimal interventions, maximum genius loci.
These wines speak about our quest for elegance in all our imperfections. Purism inside and out. Pouring in our hearts as well as all our long-term work and know-how, something I'm proud of. All that is reflected on the labels. When working on them, we took out elements that weren’t essential until only my signature and the name of the wine remained. Because, as they say, perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
I don't wanna look like a natural-born sage - it took me some time to get there. My journey, like many others, has been paved with gold engravings and curlicues, like on a fancy tombstone. “Nestarec, a wine for funerals”, as a friend of mine dubbed it back then. Oops. But I remember that period fondly - it's a part of my evolution. No regrets, like in that famous Edith Piaf song.
