November 05, 2026 - Featured Winemaker - No comment
Merlot: Ivana Radikon Is Restoring Its Reputation
In the 1980s, Friuli had more Merlot planted than Bordeaux. Yet the grape's reputation took a hit decades later, thanks in part to the Hollywood film Sideways and its now-famous declaration: "I am not drinking any Merlot."
Ivana Radikon sees things differently. For her, Merlot has found a distinctive home in Friuli, where the region's soils and winemaking traditions give it a character of its own. Through a new generation of Radikon wines, she's finding fresh ways to express the vineyards on the Italian-Slovenian border.
"It's a very funny movie, but I don't feel the same way about Merlot," she says. "Merlot in Friuli has found another home. The Merlot you can taste here is very different from anywhere else."
For Ivana, the difference starts in the soil. The mineral-rich marl formations of the region, locally known as ponca, give the wines a distinctly savoury character. Rather than simply offering the familiar ripe fruit associated with Merlot, Friulian examples can bring freshness, mineral depth and savoury notes that make them particularly interesting.
"We have a big culture of Merlot here. So if you don't like it, maybe give the Friulian one a try."
It's a fitting argument coming from the Radikon family. Based in Oslavia, just across the border from Slovenia, the estate has spent decades challenging conventional ideas about wine. The family's history in the area stretches back to 1861, while Stanko Radikon made the first estate bottlings in 1980. His pioneering approach to skin-contact winemaking helped establish Radikon as one of the defining names of the natural wine movement. The first estate Merlot followed in 1984, long before the grape became the subject of Hollywood ridicule.
Following Stanko's death in 2016, his legacy has continued through his family. His son Saša has maintained the estate's distinctive approach, while Ivana joined the family business in 2017 and is now developing a project of her own.
That project is called POP.
A new direction, without abandoning the principles
POP began in 2023, following the family's acquisition of additional vineyards just across the border in Slovenia. Rather than simply extending the existing range, Ivana saw an opportunity to do something different with the fruit.
"My idea was to do something a little bit more simple. Accessible. This is why the name is POP, for popular."
The name is particularly appropriate for a project that looks beyond the traditional boundaries of both wine and geography. The vineyards sit in Slovenia's Brda region, an area that shares much of the same landscape, climate and geological character as neighbouring Collio and Oslavia. The political border may divide the two countries, but the vineyards and their traditions have much in common.
The new wines bring together local varieties and international grapes. POP Bianco combines Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia and Tocai Friulano, while POP Rosso is based on Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
The winemaking represents a noticeable departure from the estate's more established wines, but not a departure from its philosophy.
"We do two days of skin contact in the press, and then it's pressed and stays in stainless steel for a few months before being bottled and sold."
The official POP range allows for two to four days of skin maceration, followed by six to ten months in stainless steel and a few months in bottle. This is a considerably shorter approach than the extended macerations and lengthy ageing that define Radikon's classic wines.
The result is a fresher, more immediate expression of the family's winemaking, without losing the importance of organic farming, spontaneous fermentations and minimal intervention.
Natural wine for everyone
For Ivana, accessibility is central to the project. Radikon's traditional wines have earned an international following, but their extended ageing, distinctive structure and complexity can make them a more expensive introduction to natural wine.
POP offers another entry point.
"This should go by the glass. A good wine that is produced organically and with our principles of natural winemaking, but also affordable for a larger group of people."
It's an interesting development for a winery that has never been particularly concerned with making wine fit conventional expectations. Rather than changing the philosophy to appeal to a wider audience, Ivana is exploring how that philosophy can be expressed in a different way.
And perhaps that's the point. Whether it's giving Merlot another chance or making natural wine more approachable, POP is about opening the door rather than setting the rules.
After all, if ‘Sideways’ couldn't quite convince us to give up Merlot forever, perhaps Ivana Radikon can convince us to give Friuli's version a try.
