5 minute read
THE ORANGE REVOLUTION
A guide to orange wines by wine writer and winemaker Chris Boiling
I view orange wines as white wines made in the style of red wines Unlike normal white wines, where the grape skins are quickly removed after pressing, orange wines are made by leaving the skins of white grapes in contact with the juice before and during fermentation - and often for weeks or months post -fermentation. This extended "skin contact" gives the wine an orange or amber hue.
It's the same technique used to give red wines their colour - but with white grapes. Without extended skin contact, red wines would be rosés.
As well as imparting colour, the grape skins add tannins, extra flavours, and aromas, resulting in a more complex and textured style of wine.
Orange wines have become trendy over the last 15 years, but they are actually a tribute to wines made in ancient times - thousands of years ago in the birthplace of wine, the fertile valleys of the South Caucasus (present-day Georgia and Armenia), when winemakers used to dump their grapes in a qvevri (a large clay vessel buried in the ground to keep the wine cool), where they were left to ferment, stabilise and clarify naturally.
Many orange wines are considered "natural wines" because they are made with the yeasts carried on the grape skins and with techniques often described as "low intervention" or "zero manipulation". It means the winemakers make no additions, apart from a little S02 to prevent the wines from oxidising These "natural wines" are usually bottled without filtration - so you may find some deposits at the bottom of the bottle, as you do with some red wines.
The first orange wine I tasted was made by a long-bearded monk from Georgia It was disgusting "natural" but in a faulty kind of way. However, since then, I have tasted many amazing orange wines and this style has become my favourite.
So much so that I went to three very different countries in 2022 to make three different styles of amber wines In the Alazani Valley - in the heart of Georgia's primary wine-growing region, Kakheti - I harvested two rare indigenous grape varieties, Kisi and Khikhvi, and put them together in a qvevri, keeping the skins in contact with the wine for six months. Then, the wine was racked off the skins and stored in a clean qvevri for a further four months. This limited-edition wine is due to be shipped to England soon.
Wickhams' customers can pre-order this wine at wickhamwine.co.uk/chris-boiling. Come and meet me to taste the wine at Toby's Garden Festival (3rd and 4th May, Powderham Castle), or you can join me, Dan Farrell-Wright and Sarah Abbott MW for an online tasting of Amber and Orange wines (including mine) on Thursday 25th June (tickets via Eventbrite).
My second wine is a semi-orange wine made in Slovenia, a country that has been at the forefront of the Amber Revolution.
Most of the juice was obtained in a typical way for a high-quality white wine - by putting the Laski rizling (Welschriesling) grapes in a press but only using the juice which ran out freely (before the grapes were squeezed). As the fermentation of this versatile grape began (its used to make top-quality sweet wines in Austria, sparkling wines in Brazil and dry white wines in Croatia and Hungary), we pitched in whole grapes of the extremely aromatic and exotic Traminer variety. These grapes fermented inside their own skins and eventually exploded - depositing more of this variety and more sugars slowly into the wine to extend the fermentation period from weeks to almost a year (protecting the wine without the need for sulphites). The result is a very elegant and aromatic light-style orange wine It will be released later this year.
As will the third orange wine I made during the 2022 vintage, travelling across the Slovenian border to neighbouring Austria to make an amber wine from two new grape varieties, Souvignier Gris and Muscaris. The advantage of these grape varieties is that they are disease resistant and require very little spraying, so this organic wine will be one of the most sustainable wines in the world. The grapes were fermented in a variety of vessels (amphora, oak barrels and stainless-steel tanks) with different batches undergoing different lengths of skin contact - from 72 hours to six months. The wine will be the best blend possible from these components, but it is likely to be an orange wine that is very approachable for lovers of white wines and rosés Ensure you are signed up to receive Wickhams regular emails for information on when these wines will be available to buy.
After the bad experience with my first orange wine, I'm so glad I persisted in exploring this new/old style of wine - it has opened an exciting new world of flavours and experiences.
