Next time you go out for a drink, you may be faced with a new option of wine on top of the usual red, white, and rosé.
Orange wine – and it’s becoming very popular.
Before you ask, because it’s the first question we all want answered, no, it isn’t made from oranges. To put it simply, orange wine is made from white wine grapes, but following the same process that red wine undergoes. This means there is skin-contact from the grape skins, which is what gives the liquid its deeper amber colour.
What does it taste like? Honestly, I am still learning how to best describe the taste to people who haven’t tried it before. Orange wines have such a broad spectrum of flavours that sometimes I feel like I am drinking a pale ale, other times a tart, fruity drink. I think this would be a good wine to introduce to those who don’t like conventional tasting wines, because that’s certainly not what you’re getting.
Smithsonian Magazine published an article over a decade ago about orange wine. As I have just learnt reading that article, because there is skin-contact in the process of making orange wine, it adds tannins, which is what gives red wines a more bitter taste and body. Newsweek, among many, reports that orange wine dates back centuries; in fact, skin-contact wine is the oldest recorded wine-making process in the world. MasterClass further explains that originating in Georgia, this traditional wine-making involved an 8,000-year-old process of fermenting crushed whole berries in clay vessels, then sealing the jars with either more clay or beeswax, and burying them underground to keep cool.
Nowadays, orange wine is produced all over the world.
Orange wines also typically (though not always) fall under the umbrella of “natural wines”, because they tend to be unfiltered, and have few to no additives: a.k.a. they aren’t really interfered with.
I’ve probably tried around eight different brands of orange wine so far, but most recently I treated myself to a gorgeous bottle of Fra’ Diàure from Bon Vino in Bermondsey. Alessandro, who owns the shop, walked me through a whole selection of orange wines – it was my own personal wine tasting experience. I met Alessandro back in September 2019 at his other shop located in Maltby Street Market – his passion for fantastic wine is utterly contagious.
Other places I have tried orange wine at include OMBRA and Sager & Wilde, both in Hackney, and Trivet in London Bridge.
I’m still trying to expand my palette of orange wines. If you have any recommendations of bottles to try, or places to get it – comment below!
SEE: Sip Eat Enjoy 