2022 Bott Frigyes Kékfrankos Faricka
Južnoslovenská, Slovakia
2022
100% Kékfrankos
Continental (hot summers & cold winters)
clay on top of volcanic bedrock
70% whole cluster with three weeks of maceration followed by a year in 500L Stockinger barrels.
13%
2.8 g/l
6.27 g/l
Notes & Pairings
When we first started working with Frigyes, there was heavy experimentation and more SKUs than we could possibly tackle all at once. Starting around 2019, he started to isolate a small .7 hectare parcel called “Faricka” in addition to another larger area he named “Muzsla.” Over the next few years this evolved into essentially a three-tier system much like he had experienced working harvests in Burgundy. Muzsla is the village level characterized by volcanic and limestone soils planted to a variety of grapes in a variety of expositions. The next tier is “Béla” which is the Cru level focused on clay and loess soils in ideal expositions (ripeness at low pH). The Grand Cru is “Faricka” which is the best exposition, best clones, and a volcanic base with a high concentration of limestone along with a heavy usage of Stockinger barrels. This Kékfrankos clone has smaller berries and loose bunches, so it has a longer ripening time with a greater ratio of skins to must. Add to that, he went 70% whole cluster with three weeks of maceration followed by a year in 500L Stockinger barrels. This is a tug of war between extreme concentration and levity that tastes great now, but will be a treat to revisit in the years to come.
