TN: Radikon Rosso RS18....Vile Stuff...(short/boring/painful)

Tried this wine new in the NM last night:

1. Radikon Rosso RS18 IGT: Venezia Giulia (13.0%; EB; Louis/Dressner; 50% Merlot/Pignolo) Radikon/Oslavia/Gorizia NV (2018?): Med.dark color; quite volatile/fumey/EA some earthy/dusty rather plummy/grapey Merlot slight plastic waste basket/new vinyl pretty ugly nose; very soft very volatile/hot/fumey/EA some plummy/Merlot rather bitter some earthy/dusty flavor w/ light soft tannins; very long very volatile/fumey/hot/raging EA-level finish w/ light very ripe tannins; one of the most volatile wines I’ve ever had; so much EA that it actually stings the nose; undrinkable. $44.00 (AV)

A wee BloodyPulpit:

1. Whenever I buy a Louis/Dressner natural wine; I always try it with low expectations. But this wine blew me away. I’ve never had a wine so loaded with EA that it actually stings/burns the nose. This was a rare fail from a producer I normally like his often eccentric wines. I seldom take a wine back to a wine shop because it’s flawed…I’m generally pretty accepting of flaws in wine. But this wine is soooo volatile that it is disgraceful to sell it to a customer. I can’t believe that Brian had not tried this wine & found it acceptable. A bad btl, maybe?? I have my doubts. VA is something that is seldom btl-dependent.
   Tom

Ouch. When I was in the business, the Louis/Dressner tastings were always challenging. There would be some great wines in there, but also some wines so flawed that they could destroy my palate for the rest of the tasting. Even with Radikon, I would really like some wines and others would be a mess.

I still consider LDM to be a pretty top-end importer. I don’t match up 100% with their palate (and I suspect some wines are imported more based on relationship or ideological approach than deliciousness) but I have been educated and evolved by their portfolio on numerous occasions. Many of their wines I might have considered “not my thing” until having more experience with them (and wine in general).

Yup, Jason…agree that LDM is a pretty top notch importer. They bring in the Foradoris, which are always excellent.
But I also occasional get some dogs from LDM from time to time. This Radikon was easily the worst LDM I’ve had.
They will sometimes have wines that are not to my taste. But this one was actually painful to taste.
Tom

Oh Tom - you just don’t GET natural wines now, do you?!?!?

It’s always a bummer when this happens - and in no way would a winemaker want a wine of theirs to show these characteristics. The vinyl you refer to - do you think that’s ‘bandaid’ brett?

Sound like you and Brian G need to have a ‘fight’ to determine who had the more vile wine.

Cheers

Yeah, Larry…I think that was probably what I was picking up there.
Tom

So…I pretty well trashed this wine for its extreme VA/EthylAcetate. Excess EA in wine is worse than Acetic Acid (vinegar) becaus it’s much more painful. Think smelling fingernail polish remover
vs. smelling vinegar. The level of EA in this Radikon was sooo high that I am fully confident that it was well above the 0.14% legal limit for red wines. It stung on the nasal passages and burnt going down the
throat, plus was slightly sweet. Just absolutely undrinkable it was sooo painful. I pour a lotta wines down the drain, not so much because they are badly flawed but because they are boring/vapid/bland.
But this was one of the most badly flawed wines I can recall…did I mention it was painful to drink?? I took the btl down to Pig+Fig for them to try & they both found it pretty vile wine & undrinkable…but didn’t really
explain exactly what the problem was to them.

So, after consuming a little over a cup of this wine, instead of dumping it, I stuck the cork back into it & dropped it off at the local wine shop (one of my favorites) for him to taste and confirm that it was
flawed, had an excessive level of EA, would then open another one from his shelf to see to see if they were all like this, and if this btl was not excessive EA, offer to replace my flawed btl with another good btl.
I had suggested that maybe I just happened to get a “bad” btl. Alas, that was not what happened. I am fully convinced he did not even bother to try the opened btl I brought back. If the other btl had this
excessive EA level, then I would hope he would return the rest to the distributor and ask for a refund.

When I went in a few days later, I asked him what he thought about the opened btl I brought in. He then proceeded to acknowledge that I’ve tasted a lot of wines over the yrs but that this was how Sasha
made the wine and this was how it was supposed to taste!! He then proceeded to lecture me that, even though I taste a lot of wines, I have no right nor expertise to tell a winemaker that he has produced a flawed
wine. That I should get down off my high horse and learn to be more accepting of wines that are “different” and learn to broaden my horizons w.r.t. wine. Hmmm… I try a lot of “natural” wines & think I’m pretty
accepting of a lot of them…maybe not like them but accept them for what they are…except for some of the extremely mousey/hantavirus wines.
Then what he said next really took me aback. He says that he, too, does not at all like this Radikon (no mention of the high EA level…just that he doesn’t like the wine). Most of the reputable wine merchants I
deal with would not even think of putting a wine on their shelf they don’t like. That’s the purpose of a good wine merchant…to connect his customers up w/ good wines…wines that he’s tried & liked. At least,
that’s the way I thought it was supposed to work?? Maybe it doesn’t work that way in the real world. But I rely a lot on my wine merchants for advice on wines I might like. Mostly they’re spot on. Sometimes
they make a bad rec & I have no qualms about telling them that…from my perch atop my high horse.

Then the real kicker. A few days later I got an e-mail from him reiterating that this very high EA level is how this Radikon wine is supposed to taste. It was bttld by the winemaker, it was imported by the importer
(Louis/Dressner), it was sold by the NM distributor (PM Wines), and it was put on the shelf by him. After all this vetting by those along the line (who just happened to have a wine they want to sell), he asserts
“what makes you such an expert that you think you can cry foul on all those involved?”. At no point in all this discussion does he mention actually tasting this wine and finding an excessive level of EA. I think I might
have enough tasting experience to recognize excessive EA in a wine…but maybe not…I admit I’m still learning about wine.

I sent a copy of my TN trashing this wine to the distributor, Louis/Dressner Imprts, and Sasha Radikon. And, of course, no reply from any of them. “Ohhh, gawd…
yet another TN from that crank in LosAlamos”!!

So…at this point…I’m going to let this matter lie. I’m not going to get into a pi$$ing match w/ the wine shop owner. I will probably go back and buy another btl just to assure myself that I didn’t just get a “bad”
btl…that all the rest of the btls are equally flawed. Maybe this new btl will be totally drinkable & I’ll like it…or tolerate it…don’t know. But if it has an unacceptable EA level, I will probably share it around with friends to demonstrate
what excessive EA in wine actually is. I may just send some off to Leo/Vinquiry to have it tested for legality.

Anyway…I generally like the Radikon wines…or at least find them interesting. But I’ll be a bit more careful as to what Radikon wines I buy. And be much more reluctant to patronize this shop that
has no qualms about selling “bad” wine.

Which, of course, leads to the other thread I posted on about accepting flawed wines and the “natural” winemaker who wrote it suggesting that we accept flawed “natural” wines because that’s
how they’re supposed to be:
Wine Flaws and Why You Should Embrace Them - Pix,
a viewpoint I have some difficulty accepting. But this Radikon was simply not a wine I could accept.
Tom (speaking from atop his high horse)

i have never tried this particular cuvee but usually enjoy certain radikon wines such as the pinot grigio. that being said, your tasting note sounds pretty much exactly like what i would imagine a radikon red to taste like. this probably also explains why i have yet to actually purchase a bottle. thankfully i exercised good judgment and resisted temptation when i stumbled upon a rather rare pinot bottling that was close to 20 years old at a shop in italy.

It seems that it is not only the reds. I only had two Radikon wines ever (and recently): 2013 Radikon Oslavje and 2014 Radikon Jakot.

I really liked the Oslavje. However, the Jakot was pretty much undrinkable:

TN: 2014 Radikon Jakot (Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Venezia Giulia IGT) - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Venezia Giulia IGT (6/5/2021)
Je lis les autres notes et je me pose des questions sur ma bouteille. Rien à voir avec le succulent Oslavje 2013 bu il y a quelques temps. Cette fois, tout était caché par de l’acidité volatile au nez et en bouche. Bref, malgré la texture intéressante et des relents de complexité (fleurs, noix, orange confite), tout est pris d’assaut par cette acidité. C’est ma première expérience avec cette cuvée mais je me dis que ça ne peut être voulu donc: bouteille déviante. NR (flawed)

In a nutshell: there was so much VA that everything was overtaken by it. I assumed this was not the winemaker’s intent and flagged it as flawed. Now, I am not sure if this “flaw” was intended or not . The other CT notes don’t seem to report this though so it probably points to a bad bottle.

Tom, I’m deeply impressed by number of sips you took considering how horrible the bottle sounds like, my hat is off for the bravery and effort to try to understand the wine.

However, no need to get another bottle and prolong the suffering, for what? Be nicer to yourself and don’t put your friends through that type of experience,

Better luck with the next wine you explore!

Tom,
I don’t think VA is a bottle problem, but I admire your willingness to repeat the experience, in the name of science.

LOL! The word “vile” in the thread title caught my attention, too. As for the battle: that’s not one I’m interested in having!

Yup, Oliver…that’s sorta my guess as well. The next btl will probably be just as bad. But I’ll persist.
But I could be wrong…happened once in March back in 2003!!
Tom

It’s a label I’ve not tried anything from, since a shockingly disappointing glass of one of their red wines in Torino (RossoRubino to be precise, in their original location… was it via madama cristina or via Nizza?). That was before I was even aware of the natural wine movement, so I’ve no idea if I’d react differently now, having some pre-warning of it being a very different style of wine to that which I’m accustomed to. I recall thinking €40 for a bottle of that!!!

Tom, the rest of the story is hilarious, in sort of a sad way. The guy at the store is a real piece of work.

Phil, the Jakot has been a mess for a few years now. That was one of those palate ruiners at the trade tasting until I learned to not put it in my mouth.

I’m a big fan of the Pinot Grigio, with a good decant.

I’m a bit shocked that the shop owner basically told you that because they all vetted the wine, you shouldn’t have the nerve to complain. By the same logic, anyone whose 70s Ford Pinto caught fire in an accident shouldn’t dare question the quality of the car. It was made as it was intended to be made and passed every similar level of “vetting” by the sales forces involved.

You should definitely have the EA levels sampled and if it exceeds the legal limit, ask the shop owner if the regulations should be changed or perhaps that the wine be better off only consumed in Italy…

And I generally quite enjoy Radikon’s Ribolla Gialla and sometimes the Pinot Grigio.

Uhhh, Marcus… like stir-the-pot?? I would never do that!!
I am pretty sure the VA is well above the legal limit & probably won’t bother.
But if I gave a note to the TTB that they should test this wine & copies Louis/Dressner & SashaRadikon… I expect I would get a response. But not worth the effort.
Tom

Sure your palate’s not shot? You like a lot of weird stuff that I’ve had and wouldn’t recommend (although I commend you for trying).

Maybe you can use it to clean paint brushes.

So… I went back to the retail shop and bought anuther btl to try:

1. Radikon Rosso RS18 IGT: Venezia Giulia (13.0%; EB; Louis/Dressner; 50% Merlot/Pignolo) Radikon/Oslavia/Gorizia NV (2018?): Very dark, near black color w/ some tiny/frothy bubbles that dissipate rapidly; very intense extremely volatile/EA/acetic very fumey some grapey/plummy/Merlot nose that sears/burns the nostrils; very hot/fumey/screeching/burning volatile/EA/bit acetic some plummy/Merlot quite bitter slight piquant/fizzy quite sweet flavor w/ ample bitter tannins; very long burning/volatile/bitter/EA/acetic finish w/ ample bitter tannins; an absolutely undrinkable wine that is very painful to drink; maybe the worst/most flawed wine I’ve ever tried.

A wee BloodyPulpit:

1. I was pretty sure my first btl of this Radikon was not a one-of. Not only that, it appears the wine is now starting to ferment in the the btl from the slight froth when I first poured it. The btl had the same intense EA level and is now showing some acetic character.
   I took the opened btl down to CHOMP & shared it w/ a couple of their wine people. They all three labeled it as undrinkable.
   However, I’ve been assured by the merchant that sold me this btl that this is how the wine is “supposed” to taste and that I have no business criticizing the wine & to get down off my high horse and accept it for what it is.
   I guess I would have to question the ethics of any wine merchant, any distributor, any importer, who would sell a btl this badly flawed. If anybody knows someone who works for Louis/Dressner, I would appreciate if you could forward this TN to them. I’ve had plenty of Louis/Dressner wines that I’ve liked. But this is a wine that should be driven from the marketplace. I may go back & buy anuther btl to age for a yr or so to find out how really vile it can become. If you see one on the shelf somewhere, you should buy one to try for your own edumacation.
   Tom