Pivnica Čajkov, Vulcanica #7

Wine Type: Pét-Nat, Skin Contact

Grape(s): Pesecká Leánka, Pinot Gris

Country: Slovakia

Region: Štiavnické vrchy, Čajkov

Organic: No

Vegan: Yes

ABV: 12.5%

Tasting Notes: Volcanic tang, crushed rock, yeasty notes mingled with forest strawberries, apricots and flowers. Quite creamy in the mouth, thanks to the fine bubbles and silky maceration notes; ending on a salty acid kick with orange / pomelo rind flavours.

Winemaking: Harvested by hand into small crates (18-20 kg) in order to keep the grapes as intact as possible. About a third of the grapes are picked early for acidity, the rest a few weeks later. All the grapes are then gently destemmed and crushed. The base wine consists of 1. Early-picked Pinot Gris that stays on skins until roughly 5% ABV, then racked into old barrels. 2. Pesecká Leánka, 3 days on skins, the free-run juice then ferments and ages in old barrels.

After roughly 10 months of ageing on fine lees in the stable temperature of our historical underground cellar, the wines were blended together at the beginning of September, and we added a bit (about 5%) of skin-macerated late-harvest Pinot Gris (our Extracta, 24 months in barrel) to spice things up. The slow, natural secondary fermentation happens in bottles, launched in autumn by adding fresh fermenting Leánka grape must (about 5% of the blend). All the bottles are shaken by hand in order to incorporate the bubbles better into the wine. Unfined, unfiltered, unsulphured, undisgorged.