Gravner orange wines at Compline
Compline introduces Mateja Gravner with Gravner orange (skin-contact white) wines on Wednesday, Oct. 30, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The modern origins of orange wine can be found in the Friulian region of Collio where Italy and Slovenia meet. At the turn of the 21st century, Joško Gravner led a local revolt against modern enological practices and returned to old techniques and indigenous varieties. He fashioned some of the modern era’s first “orange” wines from the Ribolla Gialla grape and imported qvevri amphorae, ancient vessels for wine, from Georgia. His wines ferment and slumber for years underground in these terracotta containers before bottling and release. Long before orange wines became a fixture of by-the-glass lists in New York and California, Gravner’s wines won raves and admiration from sommeliers, critics and collectors worldwide. Joško’s daughter, Mateja Gravner, has been running the family winery for years and she is grooming her son, Gregor, to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps. She will show off her family’s production of natural wines, orange and red, literally grounded in the past. The cost is $175 for a seated tasting of five wines at complinewine.com. Compline Wine Shop, 1300 First St., Ste. 312, Napa