Milan Nestarec
Milan Nestarec has quickly become the star winemaker of the Czech republic during the time we’ve been working with him. His wines display so much life, vitality, and originality, that they have become very sought after all over the world in a very short time. We are honored to have been working with his wines since 2014. The wines we are selling now represent the full evolution of his original vision: a full range of wines, from quaffable yet energetic and inexpensive wines like the Forks & Knives and liter bottlings of Nach and Bel to the amazingly expressive skin-fermented wines, made entirely without additions of sulfur.
Milan’s father planted 8 hectares of vines in 2001 across two wine-growing municipalities: Moravský Žižkov and Velké Bílovice. No herbicides are used and the vines are worked organically and biodynamically. He believes that gentle methods of growing grapevines and grape processing give the best result. All wines in the cellar are fermented spontaneously and they are usually vinified in oak and acacia barrels.
Nach — Back to the top
Age of Vines: 15 years
Yield: 40 hl/ha
Elevation: 220 meters above sea level
Soil: Loess
Varieties: Pinot Noir/Zweigelt
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The wine is fermented in 20-year-old 1500-liter open-topped oak vats for about 20 days with indigenous yeasts, with occasional remontage. It then goes into 20-year-old 1000-liter oak barrels for about 18 months, where battonage is performed. The wine is bottled without fining or filtering and gets 20mg/liter of sulfur at bottling.
Total Production: 5000 bottles
Age of Vines: 7-35 years old
Vineyard size: 1.8 hectares
Yield: 25 hl/ha
Elevation: 230 meters above sea level
Soil: Loess
Varieties: One third of each: Gruner Veltliner, Muller Thurgau, Welschriesling
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The wine is fermented in stainless steel tank for about 3 months without temperature control with wild yeasts. It rests in tanks for about 6 months where occasional battonage is performed. The wine is lightly filtered and gets 30mg/liter of sulfur at bottling.
Forks and Knives White — Back to the top
Forks and Knives White tech sheet
Total Production: 4000 bottles
Age of Vines: 17 years
Yield: 40 hl/ha
Elevation: 220 meters above sea level
Soil: Loess
Varieties: Neuburger, Muller Thurgau
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The wine is fermented in 2000-liter stainless steel tanks for about 10 days with indigenous yeasts. It then rests in tanks for about 10 months with no interference with the wine until it is bottled. The wine is bottled without fining or filtering and zero sulfur is added.
Forks and Knives Red — Back to the top
Forks and Knives Red tech sheet
Total Production: 6000 bottles
Age of Vines: 15 years
Yield: 30 hl/ha
Elevation: 220 meters above sea level
Soil: Loess
Varieties: Pinot Noir, Blaufrankisch, Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The wine is fermented in 2500-liter stainless steel tanks for about 10 days with indigenous yeasts. The skins remain in contact with the juice for about 3 days, for a light and soft extraction and occasional pigeage. Half of the wine stays in tanks and the other half goes into used 225-liter oak barrels for elevage for about 13 months. The wine is bottled unfiltered, unfined, and with zero sulfur added.
Podfuck — Back to the top
Age of Vines: 15 years
Yield: 40 hl/ha
Elevation: 220 meters above sea level
Soil: Loess
Varieties: Pinot Gris
Vinification Notes: The grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The juice ferments in 600-liter 4-year-old wooden barrels. The skins remain in contact with the juice for 3 weeks. The wine spends 16 months in the same barrels for 16 months. The wine is bottled unfiltered, unfined, and with zero sulfur added.
TRBLMKR — Back to the top
Total Production: 3900 bottles
Age of Vines: 16 years
Yield: 35 hl/ha
Soil: Loess
Varieties: Neuburger
Vinification Notes: The grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The juice ferments in 600 and 1000-liter 3-year-old wooden barrels. The juice ferments for about 1 month with occasional pigeage and indigenous yeast fermentation. The wine is left in the same barrels for elevage for about 19 months with occasional battonage. The wine is bottled unfiltered, unfined, and with zero sulfur added.
WTF (What the Flor)— Back to the top
Total Production: 2600 bottles
Age of Vines: 35 years
Yield: 25 hl/ha
Elevation: 220 meters above sea level
Soil: Loess
Varieties: Gruner Veltliner
Vinification Notes: The grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The juice ferments in 600-liter 5-year-old acacia barrels. 30% of the skins are in contact with the juice for about 14 days, with occasional pigeage and indigenous yeast fermentation. The wine spends 7 months under flor in the same barrels. The wine is bottled unfiltered, unfined, and with zero sulfur added.
Love Me Hate Me — Back to the top
Total Production: 3000 bottles
Age of Vines: 42 years
Yield: 25 hl/ha
Soil: Clay
Varieties: Gewurtztraminer
Vinification Notes: The grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The juice ferments in 600-liter 4-year-old wooden barrels. The skins remain in contact with the juice for 1 month. The wine spends 16 months in the same barrels for 16 months. The wine is bottled unfiltered, unfined, and with zero sulfur added.
Gin Tonic — Back to the top
Total Production: 1500 bottles
Age of Vines: 33 years
Yield: 25 hl/ha
Soil: Loess and limestone
Varieties: Sauvignon Blanc
Vinification Notes: The grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The juice ferments in 600-liter 3-year-old wooden barrels. The wine ferments for about 3 weeks, with occasional piegeage and indigenous yeast fermentation. Fermentation completes after about 3 months and the wine is left in the same barrels for elevage for about 18 months. The wine is bottled unfiltered, unfined, and with zero sulfur added.
DANGER 380 Volts — Back to the top
Total Production: 3000 bottles
Age of Vines: 17 years
Yield: 30 hl/ha
Soil: Loess
Varieties: Muller Thurgau 70%, Neubürger 20% Muscat 10%
Vinification Notes: The grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The juice ferments in 600-liter 7-year-old wooden barrels. The wine ferments for about 2 months with indigenous yeast. Fermentation finishes in bottle over a 2 month period as a petnat. The wine is unfiltered, unfined, has zero sulfur added, and is not disgorged.
Youngsters — Back to the top
Total Production: 6000 bottles
Age of Vines: 19 years
Yield: 35 hl/ha
Soil: Loess, clay, loam
Varieties: field blends. White – Riesling, Neuberger, Pinot Gris; Rose (direct press)- Pinot Noir, Blaufrankisch, Zweigelt; Red – Zweigelt, Cabernet Sauvignon, Dornfelder
Vinification Notes: The grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The juice ferments in 2000-liter stainless steel tanks. The wine ferments for about 2 months, with occasional pigeage and indigenous yeast fermentation. Elevage takes place in the same tanks for about 2 months. The wine is bottled unfiltered, unfined, and with zero sulfur added.
Juicy Fruit — Back to the top
Total Production: 2600 bottles
Age of Vines: 30-33 years
Yield: 23 hl/ha
Soil: Loess
Varieties: Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir & blend of local varieties like Gruner Veltliner
Vinification Notes: The grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. The juice ferments in 3-year-old 600-liter barrels for about 3 weeks. Half of the wine is in contact with the skins for 50% of the time, while the other half is direct-press. Elevage takes place in the same barrels for 25 months. The wine is bottled unfiltered, unfined, and with zero sulfur added.
Transcendent — Back to the top
Total production: Only 3 barrels made!
Varieties: Regent, Neuberger, Riesling
Vinification notes: Direct press regent juice is added to an open vat with Neuberger and Riesling fermenting on the skins. The wine was not topped up and a flor (veil of yeast) developed, giving the wine a nutty note. Zero sulfur added, unfined and unfiltered. Each bottle is painted by hand.
Read Milan’s notes on this wine on Instagram here!
Barvirka — Back to the top
Varieties: Dornfelder and a blend of secret white varieties
Vinification notes: Barvirka means Teinturier (the french term for the rare grape that has dark red juice, as Dornfelder does). 100% carbonic fermentation of Dornfelder blended with some mysterious white grapes. Zero sulfur added, unfined, unfiltered. Low Tannin, lots of dark colors, low alcohol, and very drinkable!
Read the backstory of this wine here on Milan’s instagram!
Umami — Back to the top
Varieties: Gewurtztraminer, Riesling, Muller Thurgau, Palava
Milan’s notes:
Miky-Maus — Back to the top
Milan’s notes: