2015 Gravner, Ribolla, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy.
Gravner is the holy grail of Italian orange wines and the Ribolla bottling is one of the most sought after of the collection and I was thrilled to feature this 2015 version in a recent blind tasting of skin macerated white wines, in which it proved to be a intriguing curiosity with its amber hue in the glass and its earthy, rounded, but structured palate. Made from 100% Ribolla Gialla grapes, this wine has rich layers of dried apricot, grilled orange, mango and golden fig fruits, along with truffle, iodine, loam, chalky stone and the presence of phenolic grip and a little nail polish. All of the are grapes are fermented separately, each picked when ripe, Gravner picks later and this wine is typically around 14.5% which I believe adds to the textural pleasure and impactful character, with the fermentation done in amphora on the skins and finishes malos, with maceration going on for months, after which it is then aged a further six years in old casks before bottling. These wines, obviously are only appealing only to a tiny niche of the wine market and while I am a real admirer of Gravner, this one didn’t find much applause on the night from a majority of the tasters. Orange wines have gained a new generation of fans though and have an important place, so Gravner will keep providing inspiration and excitement in the category, I think it should be on all winelovers bucket list of experiences. I was first truly introduced to Gravner by Mateja Gravner, Josko’s daughter, who wowed me with the history of Gravner, the region, which still is haunted by the two World Wars, and her own passion, which was infectious and made the experience that much more meaningful, these are wines that expand the senses and are worthy of exploration.
The wines of Josko Gravner, as mentioned in my prior reviews, are legendary and some of the most intriguing wines in Italy, coming from the borderlands of Venezia Giulia where the vineyards sweep into Slovenia, and where the wines seem to dip into then ancient past, this is the home of the modern Italian Orange wine. These long aging skin contact wines, sometimes considered or called hipster juice, are unique expressions of an ancient craft, very natural and savory in flavor, they can be either gloriously textured and beguiling, or the they can be bizarre or seriously flawed with funky/stinky volatile. The Gravner skin contact wines are beautifully made and seriously lovely, now fermented in Amphora exclusively on the skins, his Amphorae come from Georgia and are the big beeswax lined vessels that are sunk into the earth, Josko was one of the first modern area winemakers to employ them in the region. The Gravner estate extends about 60% into Slovenia, this allowed him to more easily travel to Georgia back in Soviet times to investigate the use of Amphora, it wasn’t easy to get these big clay/terracotta vessels to Italy safely, in fact it was a decade of trying and heartbreak before a enough of them could be used to make the wines he envisioned. Gravner’s wines take 7 years from harvest to market at least, white or red, he believes this is the perfect amount of time for his wines to mature and be what he wants them to show upon release. Other Italian orange wine producers to look for, include Damijan Podversic, Benjamin Zidarich and Sandi Skerk, which are made from unique varietals like Vitovska, Malvasia, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Ribolla, as seen here.
($129 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive