Josko Gravner - Rosso ‘Breg’

Many words have been used to describe Josko Gravner: pioneer, maverick, visionary, legend. But perhaps the word that captures his philosophy most succinctly is honesty. In his way of speaking, in his respect for the land and the vines in his care, in the expression of the grape through the wine. It was a desire for honesty that led him to abandon ultra-modern winemaking, which had brought him fame in the 1970s. After much research, he came to adopt the ancient practice of fermentation in amphora with long periods of skin maceration, and he gave the wines extended barrel ageing before release. The wines are serious and contemplative yet graceful, defying easy characterisation.

This red wine is made in a peculiar way same as his amber wines; the famous local Ribolla grapes are destemmed, crushed and placed in the Georgian amphoras (called qvevri), which are buried straight in the soil of the underground cellar. It's environment - the Earth - naturally controls the fermentation temperature. After 6-7 months of macerated alcoholic fermentation and malolactic transformation, and having periodic punchdowns to submerge the skins cap to the bottom, the amphoras are emptied and cleaned, and after pressing in a small vertical press placed conveniently in the cellar, the wine returns the the qvevris for further aging of some 5-6 months until the new harvest takes pace. The wine is then racked into big Italian botti (big volume oak casks) for further aging and fining for at least 6 years before bottling.

In short: the wine spent over 6 months on the skins, in total of 1 year in underground amphoras, and also has 6 years of aging in bog oak casks. The wine was then bottled and aged for further 7 years in the winery to be released in 2021, a real "teenager" with it's 14 years! 2007 was almost a perfect vintage and this great wine can be enjoyed now or cellared for the coming years. A unique wine, and this could be your rare chance to try one of less than 1500 bottles produced every year!