Made famous worldwide by the enigmatic Joško Gravner, Ribolla Gialla is responsible for some of Italy’s rarest and most sought-after white wines. You won’t find many plantings outside northeast Italy. But time in the region travelling, working, forming strong friendships and absorbing the wine culture meant it was long in the stars for the Quealy team to bring a slice of Italian inspiration home. In 2018, the first Ribolla vines went into Balnarring’s organic soils.
The Ribolla fruit came off the vine in early April with small berries of deep, sun-flecked colour. The destemmed fruit fermented in open-top steel tanks on skins, and the wine remained in vessel until the start of September that year. Maturation occurred in three seasoned barriques on light lees for 36 months before bottling in early 2025.
Tom McCarthy recommends decanting this wine, and it’s easy to understand why. It’s deeply textural and complex, opening in layers of dark spice, mandarin oil and juice, fresh thyme and yellow florals all wrapped nutty-umami deliciousness. At its core, there a mass of sweet, savoury and wild elements, with fresh, polishing acidity and a nip of fine tannin knitting the piece together. This is a wine that explains why Ribolla Gialla and maceration go hand in hand. Given time on skins, it transforms from something simple and refreshing to something deeply cast, richly textured and complex.