Milan Nestarec - TRBLMKR - 2022 - 13% - Slovenské Field Blend - regio Moravia

TRBLMKR 2022
Always be yourself, unless you can be a troublemaker.
Then always be a troublemaker.

Teach us to care and not to care.” 

A verse from T.S. Eliot’s 1930 poem Ash Wednesday, and a fitting motto for our 2022 vintage. The year I became even more aware that winemaking means focusing all your energy on what you can influence, and letting go of what you can’t. This approach allows us to create wines that are precise and solid, yet unforced and genuine — a seeming contradiction that defines these 2022s. Abundant sunshine throughout the growing season ranks this vintage among the very warm and dry ones. A very mild winter was followed by an early spring with rapid growth. May and June saw no dramatic fluctuations which allowed for even flowering and grape-set. However, summer brought a long period of tropical temperatures and little rainfall, resulting in smaller berries, higher concentration, and firm structure. Despite the drought, the vines adapted well, especially in our older vineyards and on sites where we’ve been farming with a “hands-off” approach (no tillage, no shoot-thinning) tailored individually to each vine — i.e., our White Labels plots, the oldest and most idiosyncratic of our vineyards. Thunderstorms and light rains in August helped stabilize ripening, and the harvest began very early. Careful timing of the pick was crucial to keep the grapes at their maximum potential — a challenge I feel we met. As a result, our 2022 wines are very well structured, full-bodied, and lively, with very good ageing potential. 

TRBLMKR is me, bottled. Quiet and brooding, but once you find a common ground, it’s a friendship for life. It’s been my long-standing mission to find the true identity of Neuburger in our area. Once ubiquitous, now increasingly rare, since its understated elegance is often overshadowed by more flamboyant varieties. Add to it its low yields and difficulty of cultivation — the wine ain’t called Troublemaker for nothing — and you’ll understand why so many winemakers have abandoned it in recent years, despite its ability to beautifully express its terroir. 

The TRBLMK block is located on a steeper mid-slope of our Slovenské vineyard, in Žižkov, where pure loess and clay sediments produce very small and concentrated grapes. After years of farming it, we’ve learned that we have to treat the vines differently there, as individuals, finding the best balance between sufficient shade and ventilation for each vine. Harvested before full ripeness for maximum potential, we get a lively wine that reveals its wisdom with age. It requires focus and mindfulness, both from its growers and consumers. Qualities that are increasingly rare in today’s fast-paced world, but give this wine the time and space it deserves and you shall be rewarded

Grape varieties: Neuburger, Gruner Veltliner, Malvasia 
Region: Moravia 
Subregion: Velkopavlovická 
Village: Moravský Žižkov 
Vineyard: Slovenské 
Soil: Loess with clay sediments 
Av. altitude: 217 m ASL 
Aspect: South-east 
Slope: 10% 
Farming: Organic (certified by ABCERT — CZ-BIO-002) 
Age of vines: 21—31 years |
Vineyard size: 1.5 ha 
Training system: Guyot 
Density of plantation: 2.20 × 1.0 m 
Harvest: By hand. September 14, 2022. 
Yield: 25 hl/ha 
Vinification: Whole bunches pressed directly to barrel. 
Fermented on full lees (no debourbage) for 5 weeks 
Pressing: Slow pneumatic press (20+ hours) at 0.2 bar 
Fermentation: Native yeast fermentation with pied-de-cuve 
Ageing: Stockinger oak foudre, 3000 litres 
Fining: No 
Filtration: No 
Sulfur addition: 5 ppm before bottling 
Bottling: November 2025 
Lot number: TRBL22 
Bottle: 0.75LVetropack Burgundy 
Alcohol by volume: 13.00% 
Closure: Ardeaseal Organic 
Acids: 6.3 g/l 
Serving temperature: 11—12 °C 
Residual sugar: 0.1 g/l 
Serving glass: Zalto Burgundy, Květná Pinot Noir / Nebbiolo Auriga 
First vintage: 2015 
Designation: Moravské zemské víno (IGP equivalent) 
Recycling info: www.nestarec.cz/sorting-info