Just like the family of tastes (sweetness, sourness, saltiness and bitterness) has gained a new member – umami, orange wine became the fourth of the traditional wine colors – white, red and rosé.
The term “orange wine” is more or less new. It was formed by the Anglo-Saxons in order to exactly describe a group of wines made of white grapes which are left in contact with grape skins over a longer period of time (maceration). This is a procedure usually used for red wine production. At the same time it is a traditional procedure, for white wine used to be produced through prolonged maceration even long before.
This way more color pigments and tannins are eluted from the grape skins, which impart the wine with a deep color of old gold or amber. In some places, but mostly in Georgia, the term „amber wine“ is used for macerated white wine.
The sensory perception range with orange wines is large. The taste is typically tannic, with the primary aroma of grapes, but also fresh fruits, with exposed herbal notes.
NATURAL WINE
The main characteristic of orange wine is prolonged maceration. Wine producers decide on different maceration times – depending on the type of grapes as well as the own wine production philosophy. The maceration time can be either short (a few days) or very long (up to half a year). The latter is concerning especially the fermentation in kvevris, the Georgian clay amphoras.
Orange wines are made of healthy grapes and by natural procedures: spontaneous fermentation, no adding wine yeasts, no cooling in the fermentation phase and long aging periods on lees in wooden barrels. Orange wines are usually not filtered before bottling which is done only after the wine has cleared up – also considering moon phases.
Due to the fact that orange wines are made from healthy grapes and by healthy production procedures they feature a supreme self-protection ability which is why only a small amount of sulfur is needed to keep them stable. Orange wine producers are committed to sustainable production. Many produce their wine according to the principles of organic agriculture and some of them even apply biodynamic methods. Crops are smaller than in conventional wine production and the time of aging in cellars is longer.
Orange wine producers are keepers of a healthy and orderly cultivated landscape. They are keepers of tradition, for through upkeeping of old wine production procedures also already forgotten grape varieties are being preserved.
