I will not easily forget the first time, in 2019, I saw the cellar of Joško Gravner, the iconic Friulian winemaker famous for being the first to use qvevri, the then exotic Georgian clay vessels (which Gravner prefers to call anfora). They are now hugely popular, not only in Italy but in much of the wine world. Four metres under the earth in Oslavia, a beautiful, tranquil corner in the far east of Friuli right on the border with Slovenia, a part of Central Europe which saw its social...
Gravner – less is more
Wednesday 29 July 2020
• 15 min read
Walter falls under the spell of the philosopher of Friuli.
Become a member or log in to continue reading
This Mother’s Day, give the gift of great wine.
Mothering Sunday is 15 March – and a JancisRobinson.com gift membership is one of the most thoughtful presents you can give a wine lover.
For a limited time, get 20% off all annual gift memberships by entering promo code FORMUM26 at checkout. Offer ends 17 March.
Member
$135
/year
Ideal for wine enthusiasts
- Access 290,596 wine reviews & 15,949 articles
- Access The Oxford Companion to Wine & The World Atlas of Wine
Inner Circle
$249
/year
Ideal for collectors
- Access 290,596 wine reviews & 15,949 articles
- Access The Oxford Companion to Wine & The World Atlas of Wine
- Early access to the latest wine reviews & articles, 48 hours in advance
Professional
$299
/year
For individual wine professionals
- Access 290,596 wine reviews & 15,949 articles
- Access The Oxford Companion to Wine & The World Atlas of Wine
- Early access to the latest wine reviews & articles, 48 hours in advance
- Commercial use of up to 25 wine reviews & scores for marketing
Business
$399
/year
For companies in the wine trade
- Access 290,596 wine reviews & 15,949 articles
- Access The Oxford Companion to Wine & The World Atlas of Wine
- Early access to the latest wine reviews & articles, 48 hours in advance
- Commercial use of up to 250 wine reviews & scores for marketing
More Tasting articles
Tasting articles
Celebrating wine from clay in southern Portugal. 1,900 wine lovers can’t be wrong. In November last year they thronged to...
Tasting articles
124 wines reviewed, revealing assorted treasures buried in the far south-western corner of Australia. See also Visiting Great Southern. The...
Tasting articles
Proof that Rioja remains a terrific source of mature wines at excellent prices. Above, one of the vineyards of El...
Tasting articles
Plus a selection of top-quality wines made at sufficient scale that they can be found the world over. Above, Juan...
More from JancisRobinson.com
Wines of the week
Not cheap but a good buy considering the flood of hedonistic flavour and texture in this organic and biodynamic champagne...
Mission Blind Tasting
Time to put all the details together and take a stab at determining what’s in your glass. Now that you’ve...
Travel tips
Discovering Western Australia’s wine wilderness. Come back tomorrow for reviews of wines from Great Southern. Wherever you stand in the...
Nick on restaurants
A gem for wine lovers in London’s Soho. Just part of its giant wine list (temporarily stolen) is shown above...
Wine news in 5
Also news on Germany’s Henkell group buying out legendary Cava company Freixenet (pictured above) and lawsuits on France’s copper fungicide...
Free for all
If you’re looking for character, individuality and real significance, go Zin, from vines planted in another era of American history...
Inside information
Ferran finds Rioja as vibrant as it has ever been over its hundred-year existence as Spain’s preeminent wine region. In...
Wines of the week
A sparkling wine from Spain that dances on the tongue with vim and delicacy. And it sells for as little...