Ancient amber history: Gravner - Breg 1997

Old wines never cease to fascinate me. They invariably come to the table with a story to tell, with baggage attached, with secrets and profundities that are simply impossible in the latest vintage. This 1997 Breg from Josko Gravner is laden with resonance

(Almost) every week, I select an orange wine (a white wine made with extended skin contact) that grabbed my attention. View the whole series here.

Old wines never cease to fascinate me. They invariably come to the table with a story to tell, with baggage attached, with secrets and profundities that cannot be found in the latest vintage.

This 1997 Breg from Friulian master Josko Gravner is laden with resonance - it's the first year that Gravner bottled his then "new" style of wine, abandoning steel tanks, French oak barriques and modern presses entirely, for long skin contact and ageing in large, neutral Slavonian oak vessels. It's also the last year that Gravner kept his old label - the now iconic twisted vine replaced it from the 1998 vintage. It also predates the switch to amphora, which began in 2000.