Breg, Josko Gravner 2010

Josko Gravner is an exceptional man to meet. His attitudes to viticulture (farming) and wine making are entirely respectful to nature, uncompromising to what he intuits is needed and non-conforming to industry trends. “We need to resist the urge of intervening, changing, cutting, building: sometimes nature requires time, silence, inactivity… Calm is what we need to live through the seasons and face hardships, to watch time go by, knowing that this is the right thing to do for the wine that’s waiting.” When Josko started using amphora for fermentation and aging, it was revolutionary and completely contrary to the modern wine making techniques which were popular at the time. Amphora aging is much more common now and this is very probably thanks to Josko’s pioneering work. At a time of ultra-modernity in the wine making world, Josko was disillusioned by what wine had become. Whilst the world looked to new and exciting winemaking techniques that had been developed over 50 years in California, Josko looked for tradition and knowledge that had been preserved over time. He found inspiration in Georgia which has the furthest reaching history in wine production going back 5000 years. “This is my cellar… This is a space where amphorae from the Caucasus (Georgia) are gently cradled by my land. I love this space because it is simple and functional”