In the hills above Gorizia, in sight of both the Julian Alps and the Adriatic, Josko Gravner's family has made wine in the neighboring villages of Hum and Oslavia for generations. Long a part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, this area was razed in the First World War and later traded between Italy, Nazi Germany, Yugoslavia, and Slovenia. From 18 hectares of vineyards in these contested hills planted to Ribolla Gialla and Pignolo, Gravner makes highly compelling and thought-provoking wines.

The Gravner family holds the philosophy that nature offers everything we need. Following biodynamic practices, they aim to restore a natural balance which has been destroyed by intensive farming and monocultures. To this end they have dug out ponds in their vineyards and planted trees with the aim of supporting animal and insect life. 

A highly acclaimed producer of technical, stylish Friulian wines early in his career, Josko underwent a crisis of faith in the mid-1990's, realizing that he simply didn't enjoy drinking his own wines anymore. The story of his perilous journey into the Caucasus mountains and his encounters with millennia-old Georgian viticultural traditions has been well told by now, but it is not an exaggeration to say that Gravner is among those who prevented millennia-old vinicultural practices from disappearing from his homeland. His wines, often lumped in with other skin-contact wines that have become popular in his wake, stand apart as long aged, long lived, and profound.