What is orange wine?
Spoiler alert: it’s not made from oranges. It is, in fact, quite simply, white wine that’s made like a red wine. Here’s what I mean:
The colour and texture in red wine actually comes from the skins, which are added to the pressed grape juice to soak. If you peel a red wine grape, you’ll see that the pulp is white (99.9% of the time)!
With normal white wines, the juice is pressed, then the skins are discarded, whereas with orange wine, the white grape skins either stay with the juice or are added back in to soak for a while. This adds a certain amount of colour as well as tannin and texture to the wine. How orange a wine will be depends on how long the skins are left in with the juice and which grape varieties are used, as they all have varying hues and skin thickness.
What does orange wine taste like?
It’s a style that sits in between white wine and red wine, hovering somewhere around rosé. It’s weightier than most pinks and tends to be drier and more grippy too with tangy, often savoury, nutty flavours, making them brilliant food wines. I love a glass of orange wine with savoury snacks, roast chicken or a chunk of comté.
Geek Fact! This orange wine style is trendy now but it’s actually thousands of years old! This was the original way of making wine back in ancient Georgia where full grape bunches were put into clay pots called qvevris, which were then buried in the ground to keep them cool and just left to do their thing. In Georgia however, they say ‘amber’ not orange. This ancient, what we now call ‘non-interventionist’ approach, where grapes are simply left to ferment, is at the heart of the natural wine movement.
Not all orange wines are made in this more natural way with qvevri, however, even in Georgia. Some are made as most modern wines are these days, using stainless steel tanks, oak barrels or even oncrete eggs.
Want to know more about Georgian wine? I’ll post an easy overview next week. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss it!
Orange Wine Sips Safari
GEORGIA: Qvevris Kisi, Georgia, £12 M&S & Ocado
Here’s a Georgian wine made in the traditional way with qvevris from the country’s biggest wine region, using a majority of the beautifully named Kisi grape. Dry and textural, this has a vibrant, orange peel freshness with a hint of savoury nuts and a ginger biscuit kick.
CHILE: Macerao Naranjo Orange Wine, Chile, £9.50 Waitrose
A Chilean wine made with Moscato grapes in the more modern, skin contact style without clay pots. Quite light in body compared ot many and very dry, this has a lovely, bergamot, earl-grey tea aroma with a candied lemon peel note and a nutskin finish. A good one to start yoru orange wine journey with.
USA: Bonny Doon, Le Cigare Volant, USA, £15.50 Tesco
A blend of Grenache Blanc, Grenache and Muscat from California, this is a bold, richly coloured and flavoured wine. Think grilled peaches and tea with toast, bitter orange peel, baking spice and smoke. Definitely one to have with protein. grill;ed chicken, halloumi or even pork will do the job.
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