Those were the years that followed 1918. These were the years of reconstruction, those in which the civilians were returning to the town of Oslavia and they were faced with the desolation of a country that had been canceled by the First World War. Those were the years that saw men and women start over and celebrate the end of the war with an impressive dedication to life.
Those were the years when he was digging in the rubble. There, under the rubble and the memories of a country that was, there were timid and strong branches of Ribolla; suffering but still alive, after having witnessed the worst scenarios of humanity. They were used to make the grafts and to make sure that life – of the plant and of the human being – would take off.
A difficult, hard, austere, decisive vine that seems to have absorbed every syllable of history and made it its own in the expression of its identity. Ribolla is not simply a plant or a variety of grapes: its soft and symbiotic familiarity with people and with the territory makes it an integral part of Oslavia itself. It looks like a white berry variety, but who knows and works for generations knows that its nature is that of a red. Its character is, its imprint and its stamp; it is its tannic contribution, the structure is and so is the composition of the grape seed.
All of her – "her", because, as local producers take a lot of stress, Ribolla "is female" – has the fabric of red. It is a rich vine, which needs poor soil. It gives the best of itself on the top of the hills and with the best exposure, despite being a variety that can rightly be called "introvert". And then, the peel.
That precious casket where she, Ribolla, hides the mysterious charm of her identity. He needs to express himself, like all those who have complex and long stories to tell. And she needs to be let her talk through that practice of maceration that years ago represented the daily life of local winemaking not only for red wines. After pressing the grapes, in fact, also for the white berry the marc were left in contact with the fermenting must, so that all the charge of their polyphenolic contents was transferred to it. For years this practice was shelved, in the name of conventional winemaking that respected the disciplinary criteria and responded to the demands of a market in search of white or red wines.
Some time later, Stanko Radikon and Josko Gravner decided to give expression to their Ribolla: the Ribolla macerata, the Ribolla of Oslavia. Soon they all realized that this wine he escaped from the canons, categories and expectations of all kinds. It is not a white, but it is not even a red one. His imprint sapid mineral has the fineness of a white, yet his structure and thickness gustativo make it combinable with meat dishes and cheeses.
The Ribolla of Oslavia is a Orange Wine, daughter of Oslavia's mineral stratification of the ground – the ponca – and animated by a character all its own. There are no recipes or manuals for its vinification. There is the vintage imprint, which determines harvest time and duration of macerations, and there is the intersection of this vine with human sensitivity.
Today Ribolla di Oslavia is at a decisive turning point for the recognition of its identity in the eyes of the world. The six producers that make up the Ribolla Association of Oslavia – Dario Princic, Fiegl, Il Carpino, La Castellada, Primosic, Radikon – have signed the proposal for Production regulations of Ribolla di Oslavia, to present it officially to the Consorzio di Tutela Vini del Collio. The press is waiting for a response, as well as producers.
Meanwhile, Ribolla is there, perhaps waiting too, with the composure and strength of all time.
Sofia Landoni
November 2018
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