Tasting Note
This blend is composed of Sauvignon, Riesling, Chardonnay, and Pinot Grigio. From year to year the blend can vary. The color is always a deep orange-brass color with a concentrated oxidized nose of dried persimmons and pears.
"The 2004 Breg Anfora is a subdued, elegant refined white laced with nuanced fruit. This is a relatively approachable, medium-bodied Breg that should offer fine drinking earlier than some of the more extroverted vintages such as 2003 and 2005. Breg is Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Riesling Italico. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2019" - Antonio Galloni, Wine Advocate #185, 92 Points
There are times when wine becomes of secondary importance. This is one of those times. The tragic passing of Josko Gravner?s son Miha, 27, in a motorcycle accident a few months back is a painful reminder that life is fleeting. I met Miha Gravner only once, during a visit to the estate last year when it was clear he represented the future of the winery. An avid basketball player, he was tall, trim and the picture of youth. As a father, I can only imagine that the loss of a son must be the deepest of losses, but I hope, in some small way, the Gravner family will find a way to heal. In this context, wine seems to have relatively little importance, but Gravner has two very fine vintages on his hands with his 2004 and 2005 whites. Gravner ferments his whites in terra cotta amphorae. After the alcoholic fermentation, some of the wine remains in amphorae into the following spring, when it is added back to the rest of the wine, which has been aging in cask. The wines complete their aging in large, neutral oak. These remain some of the most unique wines being made anywhere on the planet. They are especially remarkable for their textural elegance and finesse.
Gravner Breg
Clay amphorae are believed by many to be the first tanks ever to hold wine?historians have used documents from Georgia (formerly in the USSR) to verify that winemakers have used this ancient practice for more than 4,000 years. In contrast to this ancient technique, today's Friulian winemakers have embraced vinification equipment like stainless steel, temperature controls, and barrique. Indeed, Josko Gravner helped pioneer the use of these tools. However, the iconoclastic and ever-changing Gravner has taken on a new "old" approach?that of using amphorae. Contradiction? No. Experimentation? Yes. The relentless passion for perfection through experimentation changed Gravner?s philosophy, for he was among the first to combine bio-dynamic winemaking with a more traditional, nonintrusive style in this white wine epicenter.
Gravner is a proponent of the use of open-top wood vats and extended maceration on the grape skins, while he eschews added yeasts, sulphur dioxide, and temperature control?in short, he supports purely natural winemaking. Gravner employs both amphorae and large oak barrels to make his three wines: Collio "Breg," Ribolla Gialla, and "Rosso Gravner." The grapes for these wines come from his 18 hectares of vineyards in Gorizia (Oslavia) that straddle the Italian-Slovenian border. It is here that he exercises his current approach to wine. Gravner avers, "I am convinced that wine is a product of Nature, not of Man, whose role therefore is to accompany its maturation process while avoiding any artificial intervention." Every bottle of Gravner?s wines is a testament to the pure beauty of that philosophy.
