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Ribolla Gialla is an ancient white-wine grape originating in the region where Italy borders Slovenia, and today grown in both nations, notably in the Italian Friuli region (as Ribolla Gialla) but also in the adjoining Slovenian region of Goriska (as Rebula). Despite long-standing theories, modern DNA evidence has shown that it is a distinct variety not at all related to the similarly named Robola grape of Greece.
Ribolla Gialla is a significant grape—considered by many as one of Italy’s finest whites—making wines that are light in body but definitely acidic, often with floral notes. It is a particularly clear example of the fact that in winemaking, the tradeoff is always between quantity and quality. Ribolla vines are naturally very hardy and expansive; the grower who wants to make quality wine thus has to severely restrain them, else the wanted fruitiness is largely absent and the results are screamingly high in acid (Ribolla is naturally a high-acid grape, but in well-made renditions is kept well balanced.)
Whether aging Ribolla on wood is or is not common now seems to be reported differently by different sources, some saying “occasionally” with others saying it is the usual style. Reports on its success are even more diverse, so it’s a case of caveat emptor.
Though the grape is mainly grown in its area of origin, there are other plantings; notably, the Napa Valley now has some Ribolla producers.
Factoids: Ribolla Gialla is documented as early as 1289; in the 14th century, the poet Boccaccio listed indulgence in Ribolla wines as one of the sins of gluttony. And when the Duke of Austria, Leopold III, established reign over Trieste in 1382, he required the city to annually supply him 100 urns of the region’s best Ribolla wine. By 1402, the reputation of Ribolla Gialla was high enough that the city of Udine enacted a law prohibiting adulteration of any wine made from Ribolla.
“The white wine made from the Ribolla grape is typically a light bodied wine with high acidity and floral notes. The wine can produce a more New World style with some oak aging. A number of producers in the Friuli Collio, Gorizia Hills and Vipava Valley regions ferment the variety with its skins, to produce a more substantial style now commonly known as orange wine. As the wine ages, it can develop some nutty flavors. In Friuli, the wines of the southern regions have a little more body than the wines of the central regions.”
“The wines are often characterized by their firm acidity, peach, citrus and apple notes, and a faint floral aromatic profile. In Friuli, Ribolla Gialla performs best in Rosazzo and Colli Orientali, where it used mostly to produce dry white wines and occasionally sparkling wines…The variety suffered a period of declining popularity in Friuli – international varieties were preferred during the post-phylloxera replanting. However, growers have recently embraced its unique qualities as a native grape.”
“Ribolla is suitable for all kind of vinifications – from sparkling, through fresh and wooden-aged whites, sweet with noble rot (botrytis), and all the way up to the Orange wines made in amphora…In a fresh dry style, Ribolla produces pungent and sappy in scent whites, with balanced, vivid yet vinous flavours of lemon, grapefruit and saline edge. Ribolla and oak go hand to hand like fish and the water. That’s why barrel aged Ribolla gives an excellent wine with full body, golden colour, mineral, but always vibrant.”
“As with so many Friuli wines, the best examples tend to come from Collio and Colli Orientali, the hilly regions along Italy’s border with Slovenia…and Brda on the Slovene side. Some Ribolla is made with plenty of skin contact and oak aging to produce a full-bodied wine that can develop with cellar time.”
“Delicately flavored, stingingly acidic, prone to enthusiastic growing, Ribolla Gialla can easily wind up not worth the effort. It is grown practically nowhere but these parts of Friuli, where soil nutrients and warmth days too low for most agriculture can bring that exhilaration to a halt and bring out the vine’s flavorful hardiness instead.”
“Wines made from the Ribolla Gialla tend towards the light and crisp side of white wines, with hints of apples, citrus and almonds. It is often called just Ribolla, though the Gialla helps to distinguish it from the lesser Ribolla Verde varietal.”
“These grapes respond to aging very well. Usually they are oak aged. With aging the wine develops nutty flavours. The features of the wine are maintained for up to five years. If the wine is aged for more than that, some false taste may begin to develop…The wine is cherished by many wine tasters as it has a fairly high level of acidity. Also the alcohol content is not very low which makes it favourable for tasters preferring high alcohol content.”
“[T]he variety can yield fantastic wines simply by treating it like every other white wine grape. Ribolla does NOT need to be macerated on the skins for months, or aged in amphoras, and oxidized beyond redemption, turned into an orange-red wine wannabe, morphed into a Prosecco doppelganger or into a sparkling wine made by secondary fermentation in the bottle. All of which are perfectly legitimate attempts at crafting something new, if it weren’t that the sparklers aren’t that interesting and the macerated wines provide little joy to most consumers…Most consumers are simply not interested in chewy white wines full of earthy and astringent notes…The grape really doesn’t need to be put through any gimmicks to show well. But of course, there is no substitute for old vines and talent.”
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Some Descriptions of Ribolla Gialla Wines
“The white wine made from the Ribolla grape is typically a light bodied wine with high acidity and floral notes. The wine can produce a more New World style with some oak aging. A number of producers in the Friuli Collio, Gorizia Hills and Vipava Valley regions ferment the variety with its skins, to produce a more substantial style now commonly known as orange wine. As the wine ages, it can develop some nutty flavors. In Friuli, the wines of the southern regions have a little more body than the wines of the central regions.”
“The wines are often characterized by their firm acidity, peach, citrus and apple notes, and a faint floral aromatic profile. In Friuli, Ribolla Gialla performs best in Rosazzo and Colli Orientali, where it used mostly to produce dry white wines and occasionally sparkling wines…The variety suffered a period of declining popularity in Friuli – international varieties were preferred during the post-phylloxera replanting. However, growers have recently embraced its unique qualities as a native grape.”
“Ribolla is suitable for all kind of vinifications – from sparkling, through fresh and wooden-aged whites, sweet with noble rot (botrytis), and all the way up to the Orange wines made in amphora…In a fresh dry style, Ribolla produces pungent and sappy in scent whites, with balanced, vivid yet vinous flavours of lemon, grapefruit and saline edge. Ribolla and oak go hand to hand like fish and the water. That’s why barrel aged Ribolla gives an excellent wine with full body, golden colour, mineral, but always vibrant.”
“As with so many Friuli wines, the best examples tend to come from Collio and Colli Orientali, the hilly regions along Italy’s border with Slovenia…and Brda on the Slovene side. Some Ribolla is made with plenty of skin contact and oak aging to produce a full-bodied wine that can develop with cellar time.”
“[The] wines are typically light in body and offer fruity, floral aromas, as well as bright acidity.”
“Delicately flavored, stingingly acidic, prone to enthusiastic growing, Ribolla Gialla can easily wind up not worth the effort. It is grown practically nowhere but these parts of Friuli, where soil nutrients and warmth days too low for most agriculture can bring that exhilaration to a halt and bring out the vine’s flavorful hardiness instead.”
“Wines made from the Ribolla Gialla tend towards the light and crisp side of white wines, with hints of apples, citrus and almonds. It is often called just Ribolla, though the Gialla helps to distinguish it from the lesser Ribolla Verde varietal.”
“These grapes respond to aging very well. Usually they are oak aged. With aging the wine develops nutty flavours. The features of the wine are maintained for up to five years. If the wine is aged for more than that, some false taste may begin to develop…The wine is cherished by many wine tasters as it has a fairly high level of acidity. Also the alcohol content is not very low which makes it favourable for tasters preferring high alcohol content.”
“[T]he variety can yield fantastic wines simply by treating it like every other white wine grape. Ribolla does NOT need to be macerated on the skins for months, or aged in amphoras, and oxidized beyond redemption, turned into an orange-red wine wannabe, morphed into a Prosecco doppelganger or into a sparkling wine made by secondary fermentation in the bottle. All of which are perfectly legitimate attempts at crafting something new, if it weren’t that the sparklers aren’t that interesting and the macerated wines provide little joy to most consumers…Most consumers are simply not interested in chewy white wines full of earthy and astringent notes…The grape really doesn’t need to be put through any gimmicks to show well. But of course, there is no substitute for old vines and talent.”
“Makes a light, floral, very crisp varietal in Friuli and, as Rebula, across the border in Slovenia.”