From Family Vines to Global Influence
Born into a winemaking family in the 1940s, Gravner took over the estate in 1973. He initially embraced modern trends—stainless-steel tanks, barriques, chemical fertilizers—until a hailstorm in 1996 destroyed much of his crop. This forced him to deeply rethink his approach and led to his first skin-contact macerations, which unveiled the expressive potential of Ribolla Gialla. His subsequent experimentation with amphorae inspired a complete transformation to natural, low-intervention practices. Gravner’s shift awakened a global movement toward terroir-driven, traditional techniques.
Gravner farms approximately 37 hectares of high-density vineyards, mostly Ribolla Gialla and Pignolo on steep Collio slopes, with the rest planted to international varieties that he now phases out. He follows organic and biodynamic principles, pruning twice for greater focus and harvesting over two to three weeks to allow noble rot where appropriate. Far from pure ideology, Gravner’s commitment comes from experience: he removed chemical fertilizers and steel tanks after concluding modern methods muted the soul of his land.
“I make wine I like to drink” – Joško Gravner.
In the cellar, Gravner uses large Georgian qvevris that are up to 2,500 L buried underground, several amphoras hold his wines for months on the skins. He avoids temperature control, selected yeasts, filtration, and modern additives. After six months of maceration, wines are aged in old Slavonian oak barrels for a total of around seven years before release. In 2024, he added inert glass-lined tanks to scale while maintaining purity.
Gravner wines capture a remarkable balance of structure, texture, and vivid earthy aromas, achieved through minimal intervention and meticulous ageing. His Ribolla Gialla skins extract complexity and colour, while Pignolo reds exhibit layered finesse. These wines are renowned for their ability to age gracefully. Critics say they convey the slow tempo of Collio’s calcareous soils and Adriatic breezes, each sip is a meditation on place and passage.
