In a cooler, more "introverted" vintage like 2010, the Pignolo grape reveals its true, noble character. Often a beast to tame, this 100% Pignolo has been sculpted by seven years of rest into something deeply poetic. It pours a dark, translucent ruby. The bouquet is savory and "feral"—earth, blood orange, and balsamic herbs. What makes the 2010 stand out is its acidity; it doesn't just sit on the palate, it vibrates. The tannins, once aggressive, have evolved into a "crunchy" texture. This is a wine for those who seek the "Alpine soul" of Friuli—uncompromising, structural, and built for the next three decades.
2010 Gravner “Breg” Pignolo
96 PTS
— Orazio Campoli, February 2026
About the Producer
Josko Gravner is a visionary who changed the course of modern winemaking and is the godfather of the amber-wine movement. After years of producing successful technical wines, he grew disillusioned, abandoned modern technology and returned to the roots of winemaking, adopting the ancient Georgian method of fermenting in buried terracotta amphorae, or qvevri. His estate is in Oslavia, on the Slovenian border.
Ribolla Gialla is at the centre of his work. It ferments on its skins in the qvevri for months, then spends six years in large oak casks, emerging amber, tannic and profoundly complex — dried chamomile, honeycomb, incense, beeswax and apricot, with a meaty texture and a saline mineral core. It remains the benchmark against which other skin-contact wines are measured.
Gravner’s reds are just as uncompromising. Breg is 100% Pignolo, a difficult native grape sculpted by long rest into something savory, feral and vibrant. Rujno, from Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vines that have since been uprooted, is a wine from a vineyard that no longer exists, velvety, dark and deeply moving.