If there was any one individual you could say was the personified middle finger to conventional winemaking, it would be Milan Nestarec. Born and raised in Moravia in the Czech Republic, Nestarec has run his family’s estate and every step of its winemaking since he was 16 years old and almost immediately began the process of switching its vineyards and cellar to organic and low-intervention winemaking—almost always driven by the philosophy of never letting tradition and dogmatism get in the way of deliciousness. That said: the wines that leave the estate are about as diverse, colorful, and dynamic as their maker.
Nearly 25 years since he took the reins, Milan Nestarec has put the Czech Republic on the map for wine lovers, and his wines have become some of the most recognizable bottles in the world—all of them famous for having no gimmicks, no magic powders, and no bullshit.
They are approachable and full of life, rather than just bottles pushed out by a producer. Nestarec has become an icon of the scene with nothing more than skill, spontaneous fermentation, a bunch of tanks and old barrels, grape juice, and time.
His cult-favorite wines have hit the Philippines, and you can get these coveted bottles and buy natural wine in Metro Manila at (Super)Natural:
How Milan Nestarec became a Czech natural wine icon
Milan Nestarec is not a winery. It is, as the man himself says, made up of “ideas that just happen to be represented through wine. I’m not selling wine. I’m serving a worldview using wine as a medium.”
This philosophy has been shaped by Nestarec’s own experiences: he was born to a family of winemakers in a winegrowing village within Moravia, and grew up something of a prodigy, already knowing the land’s native grapes and blends. He spent some time studying winemaking under the tutelage of Aleš Kristančič in Movia—and by the time he came back, he’d mastered the art of skin contact white wines, which was something of a novel idea at the time.
Nestarec almost immediately converted his family’s estate to organic farming and low-intervention winemaking after her inherited it and its operations—something he strongly believes always yields the best results.
Though the wines that have come from the estate have evolved stylistically through the years, moving between traditionally “classy” and fun, Nestarec’s wines always stem from a specific, sometimes rebellious, thought.
Are big, bold wines the in thing? Nestarec has gone the absolute opposite direction and made a bottle literally named “I Am Not a Big Wine.” Has someone he met said that French grapes only go with French grapes? He’s committed “blasphemy” combining them with local Czech varietals. If one says Riesling must be made with sulfites, he’ll go on and make one without.
But beyond just being contrary, Nestarec explores ideas. Gin Tonic, for example, is his “essay on energy in the bottle, written in 750 liquid words.” Every vintage of TRBLMKR is part of his long-standing journey to discovering every facet of Neuburger, a grape indigenous to Moravia. Over the years with WTF, he experiments combining the newest vintage with the previous one that developed a veil of yeast.
Combine this maverick, experimental attitude with incredible skill and a deep respect for the grape, and you have the magic found in each bottle that leaves the Milan Nestarec estate—each focused on quality, longevity, and distinctive energy.
Defining the style and terroir of Milan Nestarec
Officially, the Milan Nestarec estate spans 50 hectares in southern Moravia—partly in winegrowing municipalities Moravský Žižkov and partly in Velké Bílovice—sharing the land with old abbeys and rural hamlets. About 27 hectares of the estates are used in making wine, with plots of mostly mineral-driven loess, clay, and sand nurtured by a continental climate that sees rainy summers as well as dry and extremely cold winters.
Every single vineyard in the Milan Nestarec estate is free of herbicides, pesticides, industrial fertilizers, and systemic treatments. Some of Nestarec’s practices are indeed biodynamic, but he says “tbh, I don’t like how it’s become a bit of a marketing gimmick.”
Nestarec proudly grows grape varietals indigenous to Moravia, such as Grüner Veltiner, Neuburger, Müller Thurgau, St. Laurent, Zweigelt, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Blaufränkisch—though varietals like Pinot Blanc, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc have also surfaced on his vineyards. Many of these he uses in field blends, letting what grows together stay together in a bottle.
All grapes are harvested by hand, and undergo spontaneous fermentation with only wild yeasts. Reds are gently macerated, while white wine grapes often see some skin contact for at least a short period of time. The wines are usually aged in steel tanks or oak and acacia barrels, and are never fined or filtered.
Practically speaking, all wines that leave the estate neatly fall under the categories of natural, organic, and low-intervention, but Nestarec himself avoids using these labels to describe them—instead, he says they are “normal wine made in the normal way.” Normal for him includes the absolute absence of herbicides and other industrial treatments in the vineyards, the banning of “fooling around in the cellar,” and in most cases, the absence of sulfur.
All of these contribute to what makes each wine distinctively by Milan Nestarec—and for him, a trustworthy name on the bottle is actually the most important thing.
“It’s not about a varietal, or a famous village in a famous region—because even those wines can get the bad karma of being massacred in the cellar,” he says. “It's all about the name on the bottle. A name you can trust, because you know how the person works and that it's a style you enjoy. Where they come from and how they treat their vineyards.”
Must-Try Wines by Milan Nestarec
Milan Nestarec has produced plenty of gems over the years, and you can include these when you next shop natural wine in Metro Manila online through (Super)Natural:
Milan Nestarec Juicy Fruit 2017
This wine (now discontinued, and thus becoming a rarity) is aptly named: it’s pretty darn juicy and pretty darn fruity. Two worlds collide as dainty Burgundy varieties like Chardonnay and so many types of Pinot meet the hulk of Moravian Gruner Veltiner. The grapes are fermented separated with five days of skin contact, before they’re blended and aged in large oak barrels. The result is a joy to drink, with aromatic notes of citrus, tropical fruit, and gummy peach rings that’s so easy to drink—not something you have to think too hard about to enjoy.
Best with: Potato croquettes, mild cheeses, kinilaw, fish tacos
Milan Nestarec I Am Not a Big Wine 2017
In a world where many winemakers work hard on creating something big and bold with barrels and battonnage, Milan Nestarec prefers wines you can drink with your friends while talking about life and having fun. Made of zingy Chardonnay and Riesling, “I Am Not a Big Wine” speaks for itself: bigger isn’t always better. If drunk at the right time, with the right people, in the right place, this wine will give you everything you need and more—especially if you’re after mellow notes of honey, green apple, and a hint of sea breeze.
Best with: Chicharon, carbonara, summer salads, Peking duck
Milan Nestarecc OKR 2021
Read this label as it is: Okr, or “ochre” in Czech—a fitting name for a skin contact wine (Nestarec’s not a fan of the “orange wine” label) with lots of energy and an everyday easy drinking vibe (let the one-liter bottle speak for itself). Expect lots of fun ponkan, peach, and lychee notes from this unique white field blend. No hardcore tannins or macerations here, meaning it’s also a great introduction to orange wine in general!
Best with: Baked mussels, kimchi fried rice, shakshouka
Milan Nestarec WTF 2017
Nestarec does two weird things with this wine made of Gruner Veltliner and Riesling: first, he lets half the grapes macerate on their skins and combines them with the direct press. Second, he leaves the wine undisturbed in their open top acacia barrels until a veil of yeast, or ‘flor’, forms. Then he combines a new vintage with the aged one. What the flor?! This novel technique with Gruner Veltliner yields a concentrated, unique, and overtly aromatic product with body, acid and lots of complexity with plenty of apricots, poached pears, and marzipan on the palate.
Best with: Stinky cheeses, thanksgiving dinner, roasted root vegetables, sticky Chinese pork ribs
Milan Nestarec Moje
This bottle of 100% Riesling sparkling wine is a crowd favorite at (Super)Natural—it has a touch of residual sugar, a delicate fizz, and mouthwatering acid that makes it very refreshing and gives it that signature Nestarec electricity. The grapes are made into a still wine, bottled, and the lees of older vintages are added for secondary fermentation. Recklessly chuggable, and dangerously delicious with lots of green apple, fresh lychee, honey, and sea breeze.
Best with: Panacotta with honey, salty hors d’oeuvres, foie gras, Thai green curry
Milan Nestarec Podfuck 2018
Roughly 60% Pinot Noir, 20% Blaufrankisch, and 20% Pinot Blanc, this vintage marks the year where ‘Podfuck’ became a red wine instead of the original skin contact white that a neighbor of Nestarec’s called “podfuk” (a trick, in Czech) when he was told it was Pinot Gris instead of Blaufrankisch. With every vintage introducing more and more Pinot Noir, it becomes a fully-fledged red here, with notes of cranberries, rhubarb, leather, and that distinctive Pinot earthiness.
Spontaneously fermented in open top vats then aged in wooden barrels for two years, this red has a bit of a wild side—but a light to medium body and lower tannins make it very approachable and versatile with food.
Best with: Cured meats, mushroom pastas, grilled pork chop with apple sauce
Milan Nestarec Gin Tonic 2017
In his own words, this is Nestarec’s “essay on energy in the bottle, written in 750 liquid words.” There’s some skin contact on this wine made with Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Pinot Blanc, and the juice is spontaneously fermented in open top vats. This leads to a wine that is intensely aromatic with high acidity and more complex than it probably should be.
While the original 2015 edition had plenty of juniper notes and a slightly bitter aftertaste reminiscent of tonic water (hence its name), this vintage has notes of hibiscus and slate joining its main lemon rind and green apple flavors. Light-bodied and cloudy, this wine is made by the cool kids for the cool kids.
Best with: Fritto misto, pancit bihon, stuffed squash blossoms, peking duck
Milan Nestarec TRBLMKR 2017
One of Nestarec’s signature wines, this is a troublemaker that you actually like to hang out with. This orange wine is mostly Neuburger and is in fact inspired by the winemaker’s mission of tracing its character—it has historical roots in Moravia, yet doesn’t seem to like modern winemaking! With it in this vintage is a bit of an undisclosed field blend.
Its aromas start properly wild with apple cider, wood polish, and citrus zest, and the acid definitely hits you up front before slowly moving into a wet gravel kind of minerality and soft tannins like in rooibos tea—definitely for the more adventurous. Although light and easy, it shows more and more complexity the longer it’s open.
Best with: Vegetable tempura, fried calamares, pork BBQ, crudite platters
Where to buy Milan Nestarec natural wines in Metro Manila
You can shop natural wines by Milan Nestarec in Metro Manila online at supernaturalwine.ph, where we carry many of his classic bottles straight from the Czech Republic. These include signature Nestarec wines like Gin & Tonic, Moje, Podfuck, OKR, and TRBLMKR, as well as increasingly rare discontinued bottles of WTF, I Am Not A Big Wine, and Juicy Fruit. We offer same-day delivery in Metro Manila for orders placed before 2 PM!
