Gravner

In the hills above Gorizia, in sight of both the Julian Alps and the Adriatic, Joško Gravner’s family has made wine in the neighboring villages of Hum and Oslavia for generations. Long a part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the Collio Goriziano/Goriška Brda has, since being razed in the First World War, been traded between Italy, Nazi Germany, Yugoslavia, and Slovenia. From 18 hectares of vineyards in these contested hills planted primarily to the indigenous Ribolla Gialla and Pignolo (with a few old parcels of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon), Gravner makes some of the most compelling and thought-provoking wines we have ever encountered.

A highly acclaimed producer of technical, stylish Friulian wines early in his career, Joško underwent a crisis of faith in the mid-1990’s, realizing that he simply didn’t enjoy drinking his own wines anymore. The story of his perilous journey into the Caucasus mountains and his encounters with millennia-old Georgian viticultural traditions has been well told by now, but it is not an exaggeration to say that Gravner is among those who prevented millennia-old vinicultural practices from disappearing from his homeland. His wines, often lumped in with other skin-contact wines that have become popular in his wake, stand apart. Long aged, long lived, and profound, we invite you to discover the magic that can be bottled in Italy’s Northeasternmost corner.