What is an Orange Wine?
Orange wine is something entirely different. Orange wine is a type of white wine made by leaving the grape skins and seeds in contact with the juice, creating a deep orange-hued finished product.
How is it made?
Orange wines are the product of vinifying white grapes the way red wine is normally made. Instead of removing skins after grapes are pressed (as is standard for whites), the juice, called must, is fermented in contact with skins. The must then colours the juice and gives it a tannic structure and a bitterness similar to a red wine. They end up becoming a bolder, more savoury version of the wine from the same white grape.
What does it taste like?
Orange wines can be a little bit of a shock at first to anyone used to clear, pale-coloured, fruity white wines. Orange or amber wines tend not to be fruity but are complex, layered and structured, often with notes of dried fruit, herbs and spices, tea and a savoury umami quality. Don’t think about them as white wines but as a new style altogether.
How should it be served?
As with all wines, the flavours in orange wines are subtler when chilled and become more expressive as they warm up. If it is hot outside you will want them to be chilled and refreshing - so 10°C would be best; however, they are best served slightly warmer than a classic white and slightly cooler than a red so around 12.8°C.
Which foods pair best with Orange Wines?
Orange wines are bold and complex, and pair perfectly with foods like mushrooms, cheeses, asparagus and fennel, strong spices and nut flavours - as well as with tricky foods such as garlic and pickled foodstuffs! They’re especially great at pairing with dishes whose flavours might better match a white wine but require the fuller body of a red.
2 products
2023 Cramele Recas, Solara, Orange
Regular price £12.59Discover a wine that embodies the essence of nature's touch, meticulously balanced and structured, yet exuding a purity and freshness that is simply captivating.
Tasting Notes
Colour
Dark straw in colour with orange hints.
Nose
The nose is a delicate mélange of quince, poire william and a hint of vanilla.
Palate
A complex and structured wine, with elegant but discreet fruit flavours of stone fruits, backed up with a powerful tannin structure and long finish.
Production
Refreshing like a white wine, with the complexity of red wine. This orange wine is made by leaving the grape skins and seeds in contact with the pressed juice, creating a deep orange-hued finish. The wine ferments naturally without the addition of yeasts, sulphur or any other additions. The different varieties are then blended and before a natural cold stabilisation, and bottled unfiltered and unfined.
Producer
Back in 1988, three families decided to invest in a winery in Romania, starting with 650 hectares of slightly unloved vineyards and a rusty, once state-owned winery.
Yet Englishman Philip Cox and his Romanian wife Elvira, have turned the Cramele Recas Estate into the most successful winery in Romania. Recas are now recognised globally for their impressive scale and breadth of fascinating wines, including natural and orange wine from organic grapes. Despite the scale the emphasis is on making good wines that over-deliver, and as a result they’ve struck on a magic formula that has seen sales and demand boom. Vineyards are a combination of evolved plantings from 1447 and more recent planting, whilst the winery has seen significant investment and boasts state of the art facilities where innovation thrives. Recas are in every way a modern, dynamic winery, whose open minded approach and quality sets them apart … a winery you really can’t ignore.
Specifications
| Year | 2023 |
| Bottle Size | 750ml |
| Cultivar |
Feteasca Alba 51% Sauvignon Blanc 19% Others 30% |
| Country | Romania |
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| Units of Alcohol per Bottle | 9 units |
| Type | Orange Wine |
| Features | Vegetarian, Vegan |
| Cellaring Potential | Awaiting info |
| Allergen Information | Contains sulphites |
| Food Matches | Hard and semi hard cheese, tuna steak and chicken. |
| Origin | Romania |
| Appellation |
Romana |
2022 Emiliana Animalia (Orange Wine) Organic
Regular price £15.99Emiliana have ventured into the world of orange wines, this being a Sauvignon Blanc fermented on skins. Really successful and has some Casablanca typicity to it.
Tasting Notes
Colour & Nose
Golden orange in colour and aromas of ripe stone fruits, figs and dried herbs on the nose.
Palate
Where as most Orange wines anonymise varietal, Animalia actually has a grassy Sauvignon tange beneath the Orange structure. Clever, tasty stuff from Emiliana.
Production
This Orange wine is made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc grapes from the Casablanca Valley where the vineyards are strongly influenced by the Pacific Ocean and the Humboldt Current. With high humidity rates, its average temperatures reach 25°C in summer and 14°C in winter. The grapes were destemmed and crushed, and left with their skins. They fermented in concrete tanks at approximately 18º C, soft punch downs obtained a subtle extraction. Once the fermentation was finished, the wine was aged in concrete eggs for five months with the skins. After that, it was prepared for bottling.
Producers
Voted by Wines of Chile as "Winery of the Year 2016", Emiliana is one of Chile's most exciting producers and pioneers in organic and biodynamic winemaking. Since 1998, this Chilean winery has been producing award-winning wines from almost 1,000 hectares of vineyards in prime sites including Casablanca, Maipo, Cachapoal, Colchagua and Bio Bio.
Its spectacular biodynamic vineyard and winery at Los Robles is a model that attracts visiting viticulturalists and winemakers from across the world. Emiliana's innovative and natural-leaning wines are made with great care and attention and the results are inspiring.
Accolades
- Silver at the IWC 2022 (for the 2021 Vintage)
Alan's Personal Tasting Notes
"After 40 years tasting wines there’s not many wines I taste now that gives me an instant buzz - but this does - fresh and clean with stone fruit flavours and a herbal touch. Most orange wines I’ve tasted have a very pure, anonymous edge to them but this is different - great flavour, huge intensity and a texture to die for. It’s a Boutinot wine from Emiliana Wines in Chile. A stunning intro to orange wine at an affordable price point - defo worth a try!" August 2022
Specifications
| Year | 2022 |
| Bottle Size | 750ml |
| Cultivar | 100% Sauvignon Blanc |
| Country | Chile |
| Alcohol content | 13% alc vol |
| Units of Alcohol per Bottle | 9.5 units |
| Type | Orange Wine |
| Features | Vegetarian, Vegan, Organic, Sustainable |
| Allergen Information | Contains sulphites |
| Food Matches | This is a versatile wine that makes a great pairing with cheeses and charcuterie. It can also be served to match with white meats and fish. |
| Origin | Casablanca Valley |
| Appellation | D.O. Valle De Casablanca |
