What is Orange Wine?
Its nothing crazy like being made from oranges or being artificially coloured. During the maceration process the skins of white wine grapes are left on for anywhere in between a few days, or even months. This is where the term 'Skin Contact Wine' comes from. This can give the wine an orange appearance and provides big bold flavours and even a delicious funky taste that we absolutely love!
What does it taste like?
It's really hard to pinpoint an exact flavour profile of orange wine because it depends on what grape variety the wine maker uses, each different variety will taste different from the next. That being said, given the presence of grape skins in its production orange wine is much higher in tannins than regular white wines. Resulting in much more complex & interesting favour profiles, sometimes even a little funky if they have wild fermented as well. Orange wines are generally described as being robust and full-bodied with a great depth of flavour like a red wine.
Common tasting notes include:
- Nutty savory flavours
- A fruity beer
- Stone fruit like apricot
- Bruised fruit
If you are new to skin contact / orange wines then feel free to ask one of our team on site or even email in. We are always happy to recommend an introductory bottle. Or if you just want to go ahead and load up straight away then the Cantina Marilina - Sketta is a great place to start.
Distinctive, oxidative character from a long skin fermentation in open top concrete vessels. The vineyards are farmed bio-dynamically and the wines are made without intervention, in a "way their Grandmother used to make them", then fermented and aged in concrete with 30 days of skin macerations.
Country: Italy
Region: Sicily
Grape: Grecanico
Colour: White
ABV: 12.5%