Gravner

The Gravner estate is located in the north-east of Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, near the border with Slovenia (for Josko the vines do not know borders), in the small enclave of Oslavia.

Today here are produced 39000 bottles per year starting from a vineyard are of 18 hectares.

The vineyards are mostly cultivated with two native varieties of the area, Ribolla Gialla and Pignolo, but there is no shortage of international vines: Pinot Grigio, Riesling Italico, Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Merlot.

Both in the winery and in the vineyard Gravner uses ancient traditional methods.

The vineyards are naturally managed without fertilizers or chemical treatments. The fruit is harvested by hand with a certain delay compared to the conventional dates, to guarantee the wine structure and an important alcohol content.

As happened in the past and still happens today in Georgia, the grapes are macerated for seven months in clay amphorae - amphorae that are buried in the fresh ground up to the neck, to allow you to naturally control the temperature of the wine.

The wines are then bottled without clarification or filtration and are left in the cellar for 5 years. The only additive used is half a gram of sulfur per hectolitre to prevent the grapes from turning into vinegar: a technique that dates back to Roman times.

It can be said that Josko produces wine that tastes of vineyard, region and history.

The sensitive use of ancient winemaking techniques allows nature to take its own path and the result is an incredibly complex wine. These are pure and extremely expressive wines.

"He is not afraid to tell you that he is not in a hurry to sell his wines; who does not believe in organic or biodynamic because they are just marketing words; that his current year is not as good as his last; or that he will not sell his wine until they are ready to beat, usually 7 years."