2013 Gravner Ribolla Venezia Giulia
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Tasting notes
Sample 1 : from the Gravner glass. Pale golden amber. Old leather, nutmeg and dark spice, saffron, then iodine with hints of dried apricot and capers. Incredible depth and complexity. The glass amplifies the wine like a decanter. Salt and chamomile hints. Taste like salt wind and apricot with perfectly tied-in acidity. Mouth-filling without being dense. Salty, nervy finish and a strikingly fine texture. The whole tasting experience is a little finer, a little more focused and less tight than the conventional wine glass. Utterly stunning. Sample 2 : from a conventional wine glass. A much more toned-down nose. Chalky, minerally and slow to open up. Treacle, salt flake and dried peach with a suggestion of pickled lemon. Savoury and increasing in depth with aeration. Crushed stone and apricot. The glass emphasises the fruit side of the wine. Deep, savoury, yet subtle, apricot palate with saline acidity woven into the wine. The tannic texture is more noticeable. A length that can only be measured in light years and yet this is composed as well as complex. (WS)
Critic scores
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
Eric Guido, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Sweetly scented and exotic in nature, the 2013 Ribolla Gialla Anfora is rich yet airy, with dusty dried flowers, raw honey, ground ginger and yellow apples forming its bouquet. This is broad and round on the palate with ripe yellow pit fruits and Indian spices, as a balancing bitter twang tugs at the cheeks, all motivated by bright acidity. The 2013 often seems more like juice than wine, tapering off long with a hint of butterscotch, yet not derived through wood, while leaving notes of cardamom and tropical melon to linger. What a beauty. Due to heavy rain in late summer, production of the Ribolla was down by around 30%, with only 18,000 bottles produced.
About the producer
Along with the likes of Radikon, Joško Gravner – whose vines straddle the Italian-Slovenian border – is a leading light of the natural-wine movement. His skin-contact Ribolla Gialla has inspired many imitators, while the rare Pignolo is prized by those in the know.