Bold and bright upfront, yet soft and supple on the back, the Milan Nestarec Běl 2018 drinks almost like juice. A blend of Gruner Veltliner, Welschriesling, Muller-Thurgau, it’s citrus-forward, a bit astringent and it’s not gonna get lost behind a bunch of other flavors.
Winemaker and brand owner Milan Nestarec says, “This wine embodies my unassuming Moravian roots. Made with “common” local grapes that are neutral and low-alcohol and hence always used to be blended together for an everyday wine. (Gewurztraminer being the fancy Sunday-kinda-wine). An approach I like–and Běl and its plump, juice-like 1-liter bottle is my tribute to that.”
That’s right, it comes in a one-liter bottle, which means more wine for you and friends or family to enjoy.
The name Běl means white in old formal Czech, another tribute to the past. The vines grow in loess, clay, and sand soils and are between 5 and 40 years old. The wine comes from a blend of different vineyards in Bílovice and Moravský Žižkov.
The grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The wine is spontaneously fermented in stainless steel and neutral oak without temperature control. It rests in the same vessels for around 6 months until the following spring. Bottled unfined, unfiltered, with cca 30ppm of sulfur at bottling.
Milan says the aim with this organic wine was to have a bottle he can bring even to his conservative neighbors because it’s so approachable – fruity, with good acidity and pleasant citrusy aroma – that you can drink it with literally everyone, be they natural wine fans or haters.
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