Djordje Bikicki (pronounced: Bee-keetz-kee) is anything but a traditional winery owner, but is no stranger to hard work and dedication. Now a passionate winemaker and businessman, Djordje in his past life was a longtime drum’n’ bass DJ in the vibrant nightlife of Belgrade, as well as an avid basketball player and water-poloist. The wine portion of the Bikicki family started with his father and uncle, whom initially acquired vineyards and helped run their family-owned vineyard and wine business. But when Djordje entered the equation for the winery, he took on a low-intervention approach, and injects his passion, creativity and dedication into the wines, which is apparent in their elegant yet youthfully fun styles.

As Djordje became more engulfed in wine, so did his direction of doing things his own way under the influence of nature, patience and authenticity. Since 2019 they have been farming organically and started the organic certification process in 2020.

Bikicki’s 8 hecatres of vineyards are located in the sleepy village of Banoštor, an ancient wine region on the norther slopes of Mount Fruška Gora, looking towards the Danube River. The mountain, located at north-west part of Serbia, is a natural geological phenomenon (Fruška Gora is also called the “Mirror of the geological past”), as it is built from the rocks from almost all geological periods. This area used to be an island during the existence of the Pannonian Sea, so is rich with minerals. Much of Fruška Gora is a protected National Park, an area that directly borders the Bikicki vineyards.

Fruška Gora spreads on the 45th parallel north, shared with other notable wine regions such as Bordeaux, Italy’s Piedmont region, the Rhone Valley, and the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Much like many lesser known wine regions in Southeastern Europe, historically Fruška Gora had a huge wine influence. During the 15th century, it was recognized by the Ottoman Emperor as the world’s top three terroirs, right alongside Bordeaux and Burgundy.

The soil in these vineyards is very diverse, mostly made from cambisol and vertisol (types of clay) with a presence of volcanic rocks, limestone and marl. The soil is very rich in nutrients making it and very easy to cultivate naturally. They have a huge influence from Danube River, such as a second sun reflection, protection from freezing during the winter, and during summer having a perpetual cool breeze that is able to balance out some of the extreme high temperatures.

The vineyards are positioned on 150-250 meters in elevation, with more than 3,500 hours of sunlight annually and enough rain to fill the grapes with all the necessary ingredients for good wine.

In winemaking styles, Djordje also had a long-established love for natural wines through his exposure of the natural wines of Oszkar Maurer. After a serendipitous placement next to Oszkar at a Serbian wine fair in 2013, they shared many ideas, and since then Maurer has been the consulting winemaker for Bikicki, helping Djordje to make minimal intervention wines exclusively fermented with native yeasts, and with only minimal amounts of sulfur additions prior to bottling. Macerations are short, orange wines 3-12 days, and in reds, 7-20 days. They focus on expression the pure Serbian fruit, that is delivered from the natural terroir of Fruška Gora. Djordje’s philosophy is of balance and elegance though for character, clarity and terroir – he emphasizes that they do not wish to make wines with heavy bret or VA, but balanced and clean natural wines.

When tasting through recent vintages with Djordje, it is apparent Bikicki is just getting started, and what a great place to start from. These wines are exciting, lively and fun, but they are still learning, listening and continuously improving – the future is immensely bright and we are so excited to share these wines with the US market from the beginning.

Vinification: Hand harvested in early September at full ripeness, the grapes see 6 days of skin maceration directly undergoes spontaneous fermentation on wild yeasts in used 500L Serbian oak barrels; aged for 1 year . Bottled with no fining or filtration, and minimal sulfur addition used at bottling.

Notes: Uncensored can be considered the flaghsip wine of Bikicki – a skin-on-skin experience, this skin contact wine is not macerated to the extreme, but adjusted every vintage to match the Fruska Gora terroir and create a beautiful and approachable wine.

This wine achieves an unreal balance of beauty, sophistication and fun. Rich and layered with aromas of candied fruit, mandarin, apricot and dried mango, all framed by clear minerality. On the palate, the wine is deceptively dry: deep, structured with intense acidity, robust freshness, zesty spice and a long layered and luxurious finish.

Bikicki’s Uncensored brought much attention to the new-garde of Serbian wines, when it became the best rated Serbian wine in 2021, winning 96 points at the Decanter World Wine Awards, which is no small feat for an “unconventional” orange wine in a country with a long traditionalist history of winemaking.

-Vinum