🍷 Orange wine

Orange wine is white wine made the way red wine is made. The juice of white grapes ferments together with the skins, and sometimes the seeds. Skin contact lasts from a few days to six months. In that time the wine takes on an amber or orange colour, more body and noticeable grip from tannins.

The method is very old. In Georgia wine has been made this way for centuries in qvevri using the Kakhetian method, often from Rkatsiteli. The style became popular again thanks to winemakers on the border of Italy and Slovenia, who use Ribolla Gialla, Vitovska and Pinot Gris.

Orange wine can ferment in tanks, barrels or clay vessels, so it is often compared with amphora wine. It tastes dry, with notes of dried fruit, tea and nuts. It is served lightly chilled, like a red, rather than ice-cold like a white.