Mateja Gravner guides us in tasting two vintages of Ribolla.

In our journey through Italy, a stop in Friuli was a must, where we could taste the wines from the Gorizian winery Gravner, not far from the largest vineyard of the company, the "Ruck".

In the eight hectares of the estate, Ribolla (or "rebula") and the red Pignolo are primarily cultivated in an environment carefully maintained for biodiversity: trees of different species animate the horizon, along with the water surface of a pond with water lilies. Additionally, Mateja tells us that artificial nests are placed in the surrounding greenery to welcome the avifauna and return to Nature what it gives to men, a value dear to father Josko as well.

How do you perceive the environment around us at this moment?

Even though it is an artificial environment, where human intervention is heavy, this landscape is functional for growing our vines in the best possible way. What we aim for is a high-quality result, since the beginning of our activity: in this way, the grape clusters give us the wine in front of you, a symbol of the respect for life that characterizes our production methods and the philosophy we adopt in our work.

Does the use of amphorae for wine production go in this direction?

The amphora definitely enhances the qualities of the wine, cradling it inside without interfering in the fermentation. Being made of clay and buried, it has a double connection with the soil and our land, with the millennia-old history of winemaking and with the historical (Roman and beyond) tradition linked to wine production. After 7 months for white wines, with a variable time gap from year to year, the amphorae are racked, and the wine moves to mature in barrels. The final aging takes place over 41 months, partly still in amphorae and partly in barrels.

What do we have in front of us at this moment?

In addition to being in sight of the vineyard most connected to our origins, which represents the roots of our activity having been planted in 1901, we have in the glass a Ribolla from 2012 coming from these very plants. My house overlooks these vines: every morning since I opened my Instagram profile, I have an appointment with the image of the world I see from my window, very often from this window, and many people wait for me to share with them the peace that is breathed from this postage stamp of sky.

Returning to the wine, or rather to the glass in which I served it: the design of this handcrafted object made by Massimo Lonardon is inspired by the Eastern tea ceremony, and many after us have started to emulate it. Initially, it had a handle, while now it has a grip: its shape is intended to avoid an excessively low serving temperature. This wine, in fact, should not be consumed at the same temperature as a white wine, but slightly warmer, as happens with a young red wine, to prevent only the tannic and alcoholic parts from emerging in the tasting.

What are the characteristics of the vintage we are sipping instead?

That year, the summer was hot, while in September we had a lot of rain. The average temperatures were higher than usual, which led to some problems with the grapes, resulting in a selection during the harvest. In a blind tasting, we would recognize this and other Ribolla wines for their structure, aging degree, and the absence of sediments. Our wines clarify through simple sedimentation, thanks to long waits in amphora: we do not intervene with any filtration but with simple racking.

For the 2012 vintage, we produced just under 20,000 bottles, with an alcohol content of 14%.

How was the 2011 vintage?

I would say it was very special. As you can see, the color of the wine is slightly darker, a sign of greater concentration: the summer was magnificent that year, we had little rain in autumn, and for this reason, we finished harvesting on November 23! The weather was perfect, we did not have any hint of botrytis unlike the following year, but a maturation at its maximum potential.

The characteristics of the wine are more tannic and the final result is less gentle. I like to say that this wine is like a young man still in the prime of his energy, who needs time to find his own path. More than ten years have passed, yet the maturation of the 2011 vintage is still in its early stages. For anyone who might have a bottle, we recommend aging it for up to 35 years.

And that’s a wrap for today!

And that’s all for today’s episode of our podcast. We invite you to watch the full video in English, to admire the colors and scenery of the Gravner estate. If you want to catch up on previous chats with producers, explore the magazine of Spaghetti e Mandolino to listen to their stories.

S&M