WTN: REBULA VS. RIBOLLA

Provoked by a tasting note of a Movia Ribolla 1959, a vintage, at least 20 years too old to could have been bottled, I opened two honest rebulas. The first is maybe the best rebula on the marked at the moment:

GRAVNER RIBOLLA ANFORA 2001 (Oslavje, Italy)

A part macerated on the skins for seven months in large clay amphoras from Georgia, the rest was macerated in big oak vats for 70 days. Very transparent for a modern Gravner, brassy medium golden color. Very profound and intriguing nose,
a meditation wine, caramel, butterscotch honey, green tee, nuts. On the palate the wine leaves a feeling, as if you would drink diluted see water. Extreme minerality and freshness, consisted powerful flavours and aromas, a very very very long finish. Excellent, really excellent. A very drinkable example of wine heaven.

NANDO, REBULA RISERVA 2003 (Plesivo, Brda, Slovenia)

I heard an anecdote from a recent blind wine tasting in Italy where a prominent member of Slow food Italia mistake this wine with the Gravner ribolla. That is why a opened a bottle from this excellent garagiste wine maker Andrej Kristancic. Bronze colour, the nose is excellent, but not so profound as the Gravner. More late harvest, resiny nose, quince, candy. More tannic (the wine was macerated on the skins for 8 days) and not so much minerality, lower acidity (2003 was a very hot vintage) Nice length, excellent wine (great QPR, the price was 8€ from the cellar) but can't reach the Gravner Mount Everest.

Tomaz, many thanks for the inspiring notes. I've never had the chance to try Gravner's famous amphora-fermented white, but I have had an extreme admiration for the man and his style ever since Robin visited him a few years ago. I have always applauded idiosyncratic winemakers who break outside mere convention.

It was when I first read about Gravner skin-fermenting his Ribolla that I was inspired to do exactly the same thing with my homemade dry Niagara (which I will be featuring at NiagaraCool tomorrow). I feel that getting some skin phenolics into a white wine is a good thing - it improves its structure and gives it a certain edge. My 2001 Dry Niagara even had the most profound citrus-rind nose - the grapes were from the Beamsville part of Niagara Peninsula and there, the Rieslings and Sauvignon Blancs also have this lemony nose.

not to mention a skin fermented one!

Very interesting info, thanks!
Paul, try to get your hands on a Gravner 2001, yes, they are expensive, but for an 80 bucks investment you'll get an experience you'll never forget