2009 Ribolla Gialla
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 2009 Ribolla Gialla Anfora is rich and more savory than sweet, with wet slate evolving into pungent floral perfumes, lemon oils and underbrush. This is round and pliant in feel, with a glycerol coating of savory orchard fruits cut by a laser-like core of brisk, salty acids. The multifaceted perfumes within tempt the imagination and last throughout the finale. The 2009 tapers off long and fresh, yet lightly structured and with an exotic florality that lasts impossibly long. Yet, here, the endnote is how remarkably fresh this is. It’s a stunning Ribolla. The 2009 vintage provided a balanced summer, with rain in October and a healthy onset of noble rot.
Critic scores
Average Score
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
The 2009 Ribolla exhibits the same, golden copper color here that Gravner achieves so nicely, although the hue is a touch lighter in these younger vintages. This one happens to be more expressive and generous, with a looser textural fiber and thickness in the mouth. At the back, the wine is dry and amply structured. The finish is just as dry and macerated. I've yet to find a Gravner white that I didn't like, but I still struggle to come up with the perfect pairing for these thick, copper-colored Ribollas. I'd experiment with different cheese platters until I got it right. Or maybe even a swordfish steak for the lighter 2009? It's hard to say, but it will be fun to find out.
Pale amber. Beeswax and dried peach and honey. Cool apricot, herb and orange-peel nose. Layers and layers of flavour and super-fine tannins and gorgeous, lifted acidity on the palate. Not at all what you’d expect of a hot year. Very complete and beautifully textured and balanced. (WS)
Deep coppery gold. Fabulous aromas of dried grasses, chamomile, lapsang and smoked orange peel. Broad and tannic and dense. Bone dry on the palate, the freshness comes from the tannin more than from the acidity, it seems. Chewy, deep, a meal rather than a drink. Flavour goes on for ever. Becomes more and more smoky on the nose and then reveals its ripe fruit again at the very end. Dry spicy grip… (JH)
About the producer
Along with the likes of Radikon, Joško Gravner – whose vines straddle the Italian-Slovenian border – is a leading light of the natural-wine movement. His skin-contact Ribolla Gialla has inspired many imitators, while the rare Pignolo is prized by those in the know.