Mateja Gravner guides us in tasting two vintages of Ribolla.

On our journey through Italy, we couldn't miss a stop in the Friuli region, where we could taste the Gorizia wines of the Gravner winery, located not far from the largest vineyard of the estate, called "Ruck".

In the eight hectares of the estate, Ribolla (or "rebula") and the red Pignolo are mainly cultivated, in an environment carefully managed for biodiversity: various tree species break the horizon, along with the water of a pond filled with water lilies. Mateja also tells us that in the surrounding greenery there are artificial nests to welcome birdlife and give back to Nature what it gives to humans, a value dear to her father Josko as well.

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

Even though it is an artificial environment, where human hands act heavily, this landscape is functional for allowing our vines to grow in the best possible way. What we aim for is high quality results, from the very beginning of our activity: this way, the grape clusters give us the wine you have 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 certainly enhances the qualities of the wine, gently cradling it inside without interfering in the fermentation. Being made of terracotta and buried, it has a double connection with the soil and our land, with the millenary past of winemaking and with the historical tradition (Roman and beyond) linked to wine production. After 7 months for white wines, with a variable passage of time depending on the vintage, the amphorae are drained and the wine goes on to mature in barrels. The final aging happens over 41 months, partly still in the amphorae and partly in barrel.

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

Besides being in view of the vineyard most connected to our origins, which represents the roots of our activity as it was planted in 1901, we have in our glass a Ribolla from 2012 - the quintessential Friulian white wine - coming precisely from these plants. My house also overlooks these vines: every morning since I opened my Instagram profile, I've had an appointment with the image of the world I see from the window, very often from this window, and many people wait for me to share with them the peace that can be felt from this postage stamp of sky.

Returning to the wine, or better to the glass in which I served it: the design of this handcrafted object created 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 serves to avoid a service temperature that is too low. This wine, in fact, should not be consumed at the same temperature as a white wine, but slightly higher, as is done for a young red wine, to prevent only the tannic and alcoholic parts from emerging in 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 normal, which caused us some problems with the grapes, leading us to make a selection during the harvest. In a blind tasting, we would recognize this and other Ribolla wines for their structure, their aging potential, and the absence of sediments. Our wines clarify themselves through simple sedimentation, thanks to the long waits in the amphora: we do not intervene with any filtration but with simple decanting.

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 very peculiar. 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 the harvest on November 23! The weather was perfect, and we did not have any hints of botrytis, unlike the following year, but a ripening at the maximum of its 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 peak of his energy, who needs time to find his own way. More than ten years have passed, yet the maturation of the 2011 vintage is still in its early phases. For those who 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 listen to 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 the producers, explore the magazine of Spaghetti & Mandolino to hear their stories.