Gravner

The Gravner wine estate in Italy's Friuli region is considered by wine connoisseurs to be the finest producer of white wines in the whole of Italy. The wine estate produces wines with a unique style and limits its production to 35,000 bottles per year.

The vineyards are located around the village of Oslavia at an altitude of around 300 meters. The soils are mainly limestone marl.

Francesco Gravner aka Josko has chosen to cultivate the vines at high planting densities of 10,000 vines per hectare. His aim is to harvest perfectly ripe grapes without the use ofany inputs, either in the vineyard or in the cellar. Josko Gravner's demanding and singular approach sets him apart from other producers. In particular, he uses very special 2,400-liter terracotta amphorae, custom-made and buried in the ground.

These amphorae are protected by a beeswax coating and are all identical in terms of volume.

Winemaking is extremely meticulous: the grapes are harvested by hand, of course, then destemmed and pressed in an old vertical press. The juices macerate for 7 to 8 months, in contact with the grape skins, without any temperature control; the amphora naturally and gently regulates the temperature.

The wines are then transferred to large 70 hectoliter Slovenian foudres, where they rest for 3 years with as little intervention as possible. At bottling, only a very small dose of So2 is added. After that, the wines are aged for a further two years.

Josko Gravner's very particular philosophy and reputation stems from his constant search for a natural process. He draws his inspiration from reading about the Roman era and from several trips to Georgia, the country of origin of wine macerated in amphorae. What a journey, given that Josko was one of the forerunners in the use of new barrels and temperature control.

The wines of the Josko Gravner wine estate are real gems, especially the cuvée Ribolla, made from very old vines of Ribolla Gialla, a variety native to Friuli, which in Slovenian means "the vine at the top of the hill".

The wine's dark gold color is not immediately appealing, due to the long maceration on skins. The wine is powerful, aromatic and very complex. Ribolla is certainly Italy's greatest white wine.