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Ribolla 2003
Made from Ribolla grapes which have been cultivated in this area for more than a thousand years. While fermenting in Georgian amphorae buried underground, it underwent a long maceration with grape skin(so called skin contact), with wild yeasts and no temperature control. 2003 was the first year in which all the harvested grapes fermented in amphorae. After the drawing off and pressing phases the wine was poured back into amphorae for five more months(this was the first harvest in which wine was left in amphorae for a total period of 11 months), while the rest of wine started ageing in large oak barrels, where it was left for three years. Wine is bottled without fining or filtration.
No-till farming x Moon x Skin contact x Amphorae x Long ageing.
Josko Gravner is known as an innovator who drastically changed wine-making in Oslavia(in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Northern part of Italy) and its “orange wine” movement has spread all over the world. Among all the iconic Italian natural wine producers(like Dario Princic, Paolo Vodopivec, Angiolino Maule), Gravner is deified. Gravner is also only person who is acknowledged by Gianfranco Soldera, as a great white wine producer.
His family had produced ordinary table wines and sold to others. When he took over the estate from his father, he was enthusiastic enough and began to implement many new technologies. He was one of the first producers who bought a stainless tank in this area and he produced clean and crispy wines from Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Pinot Griggio and so on. And then, he began to use barriques and tried to model after “Burgundy” with his neighbours such as Stanko Radikon. They tried changing to large wooden vats and tried maceration(skin contact) for white wine too. In the vineyards, he began to devote natural cultivation(especially Masanobu Fukuoka) and he reached to No-till farming(Nontillage cultivation).
On the way of quest, they encountered Georgian wine and it impressed them strongly. They desired to visit Georgia, but Georgia had belonged to Soviet Union at that time, so it was not easy to visit. Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, but civil war continued in Georgia. Therefore Josko Gravner could not approach Georgia yet. And then, he could finally step into Georgia in May 2000. Georgia has a long history of wine-making since 8000 B.C., and it has been produced by Qvevri(Amphora. Large clay pot) buried underground. When Josko Gravner went back to Oslavia, he cleaned up all the equipment and buried Amphorae underground, then he produced the first "Amphorae wine" in 2001.
The white wines are made from Ribolla(as a sigle variety wine) and Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Pinot Grigio and Riesling Italico(these four are blended). While fermenting in the Georgian amphorae buried underground, it underwent a long maceration with grape skin(so called skin contact), fermented by wild yeasts under no temperature control. After the drawing off and pressing phases the wine was poured back into amphorae for at least five more months before it started ageing in large oak barrels, where it was left for six years. Wine is bottled during waning moon, without fining nor filtration.
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