Orange Wine

Orange Wine

Orange wine has recently become trendy in the world of wine. It is not made with oranges as the name might suggest, but is actually white wine that has been made by leaving the skins of the grape in contact with the juice prior to fermentation.

This is common practice for red wines to extract tannin and colour but not for whites. With white wine it gives an orange colour (hence the name) and give a textural quality to the wine from the tannins naturally present in the skins. When made well these wines are very good partners for food, working well with a variety of lighter meat dishes, rich vegetarian and fish dishes.

These wines are becoming popular the world over but they are most often found in Northern Italy, Georgia and Slovenia where they have a long history. In Georgia these wines, known as Qvevri-aged have been dated back to 6000 BC, these are clay vessels that were lined with beeswax and buried underground and the wines left to naturally ferment on their skins.

There are many different types of Orange wines from the intense deep tannic Qvevri-aged wines to lighter, less intense styles that are good for those just getting into the category.