Milan Nestarec - Antica Tramin 2013

A first meeting with a Czech grower who became a standard bearer for natural wine in Moravia, at Raw Fair in London.

Skin contact traminers are a bit like London buses - you don't see one for ages, then all of a sudden, two appear at once. I discovered this Czech beauty at last week's Raw Fair - always an inspiring event, and a fertile hunting ground for orange wines.

The Czech republic might not be the first place you associate with quality wine, but when you realise that Moravia (the main wine region) is a mere 15 km from the Austrian border it starts to make sense. Milan Nestarec is the second generation of his family to make wine, and he's certainly shaken things up a bit.

I tried three varied skin contact wines, curious if this signified a long tradition in Moravia, or just Milan's desire to experiment. After all, the Czech republic doesn't have a strong culture of winemaking, being more of a beer drinking nation. The puzzle was easily solved: Milan studied in Slovenia with Aleš Kristančič (Movia), providing the inspiration for their "Antica" range of wines (all made with extended skin maceration…