A new sparkling wine brand called Untouched by Light, released by Radgonske Gorice recently, claims that best things happen in the dark.
According to Professor Emerita Ann C. Noble[1], the exposure of wine to daylight or artificial lighting results in what is commonly known as light-struck aromas. It decreases the intensity of citrus aromas, but increases the intensity of cooked cabbage or wet dog aromas.
For that reason Radgonske Gorice made a bold decision, after a suggestion by Bruketa&Žinić&Grey, to turn to the dark side and produce their new sparkling wine. Untouched by Light is made from Chardonnay grapes picked at night and aged in pitch darkness of a cave to be sold in (sun)lightproof bottles and preferably served in the dark.
Although its fermentation began only a few months ago and the first bottles will not be made available before next year, Radgonske Gorice have already started taking pre-orders.
Radgonske Gorice from Slovenia have a 166-year-long tradition of sparkling wine production. It was started in the era of Archduke John of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, who expanded the wine production in the Radgona region, and cherished continuously even in the time when the wine cellars were owned by the Swiss-French Bouvier Family. The Winery Managing Director Borut Cvetkovič says:
”Untouched by Light is made from the ripest Chardonnay grapes by using the famous inside-the-bottle French fermentation method. What makes this wine unique is its aging process as Untouched by Light is left to age for two to three years in the caves of Radgona in Slovenia, untouched by the outside world – in complete absence of light. In our jargon it is known as a Crafted by Darkness method.
We use night vison glasses during harvest, bottle rotation and packaging. Once out of the cave, the wine is protected in a black lightproof bottle packed in a vacuum-sealed bag blocking any additional light or air contact. I would strongly recommend that you taste this wine in pitch darkness in good company.”
If you want to be among the first ones to see this sparkling wine come out of the dark, pre-orders are available at untouchedbylight.com.
Two months after the release, this story was covered in over 150 media outlets all over the world gaining around 200 pre-orders from wine distributors.
Radgonske gorice / Borut Cvetković (CEO), Andreja Novak (Marketing Manager), Klavdija Topolovec Špur (Enologist)
Bruketa&Žinić&Grey / Tea Silvia Vlahović (Strategic Planning Director), Mirna Ptiček (Art Director), Davor Bruketa (Creative Director), Maša Ivanov (Client Service Director), Vesna Đurašin (Production Manager), Jelena Mihelčić (Head of Press Relations), Vjekoslav Azenić (UX Designer), Dragan Lakičević (Copywriter, Video Editor), Ante Kantor (Account Executive), Ivan Tanić (Strategic Planning Director), Josip Buzov (Junior Strategic Planner), Marko Zabrdac (Account Executive), Robert Petković (Analytics Lead)
Kaligraf / Miho Karolyi
Rotoplast
Domagoj Kunić (DOP)
Julien David Goodman (Speaker)
Tabasco produkcija
Brojka produkcija
MM studio
[1] Noble, Ann C., Sensory study of the effect of flourescent light on a sparkling wine and its base wine, American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, Vol. 40, No. 4, 1989