MILAN NESTAREC and his ‘normal wines’ from Moravia.
Born into a winemaking family in a winemaking village, Milan Nestarec and his family manage 50ha, 27 of which are for production, in the Moravian town of Velké Bílovice.
The family journey to become winemakers began after the Velvet revolution in 1989, when the Czech state returned to the family a tiny plot previously confiscated by the communists (the socialist regime forbade virtually any private business after WWII, including farms), and Milan’s father started to season-work in a German vine nursery.
Once the family started to step towards professional winemaking, this ‘German period’ served as an incredible source - to get the know-how, the vines and even second-hand equipment. From the German vine nursery, the winery started to produce bulk wine.
Fast forward to 2008 when young Milan took over the family operation. The vineyards and cellar switched to organic and low intervention later that same year, inspired by Milan’s multiple encounters with natural winemakers at home and abroad.
2009 marks his first commercial vintage, where he adopted spontaneous fermentation, aging on gross lees and only a little sulphur. Since then, Milan has quickly become an inspiration for a whole new generation of natural winemakers in the Czech Republic. But it is not until 2015 that Milan’s style was to become noticed and the business could develop.
The upbringing and making of Milan Nestarec's wines
Despite being just in his early thirties, Milan has around 20 vintages under his belt. Since the beginning, Milan’s wine production has undergone a stylistic evolution, always swinging between his desire of making classy wines and his crave to make more fun ones.
And between these changes, a new, bigger winery came along a couple of years ago. Mockingly called Château Nestarec, because almost on the other side of the spectrum from the idyllic idea of an old historical winery, the industrial structure lies on the outskirts of Velké Bílovice village, and allows Milan to work with more focus and precision, having all of his production (finally) under one roof.
In his words, his wines are ‘normal wines made in the normal way’. Wines that strive for quality, consistency and longevity. His cuvées have a sheer diversity and dynamism that reflect his own energy.
Milan Nestarec Wines
Chasing the essentials: manual harvest, spontaneous fermentation. Slow gentle press. No fining or filtration, no gimmicks, no magic powders. Just a bunch of tanks and old barrels, grape juice and time. The normal way, simply put.
