Five years is a long time in wine. When I first wrote at length about orange wines in Decanter, in 2015, many wine pundits still viewed the style with suspicion – if not downright derision. It felt slightly bleeding edge, even if these wines had been appearing on our shelves for more than a decade. Now, in 2020, the fourth wine colour has elbowed its way into the hearts and minds of exponentially more adventurous drinkers around the globe, with orange wines produced and enjoyed on every continent. And justly so – with four possible combinations of red or white grapes with or without skins, why ignore 25% of wine’s possibilities?
Some are still perplexed by the style – or, more particularly, the name. If you accept the lexicon of red, white and rosé, then why not orange too? In actuality, all four terms describe the winemaking technique (grape colour, plus skins or not) rather than colour or style, per se.
It follows that not all orange wines are dark-amber coloured, tannic and cidery, just as not all red wines are mega-purple hued, grippy and oaky. Each of these four categories of wine offers up a multitude of taste, aroma and weight profiles.
Let’s tie-down that definition: orange wines aren’t made from oranges any more than rosé wines are made from roses. The term, first coined in 2004, concisely describes wines made from white grapes that have been fermented with their skins, unlike mainstream white wines, where skins will be discarded beforehand (even if a pre-fermentation cold soak is part of the equation). These are white wines made like red wines, the perfect food-friendly marriage of a white grape’s acidity and freshness with the texture and structure more often experienced in reds.
A style with history
この記事は Decanter の July 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Decanter の July 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
A Resource for the World? - Argentina is unique in the genetic diversity preserved in much of its vine material. With climate change and disease posing increasing threats worldwide, Catena Zapata winery is asking what lessons can be learned to protect vineyards within and beyond the nation's borders
Argentina is unique in the genetic diversity preserved in much of its vine material. With climate change and disease posing increasing threats worldwide, Catena Zapata winery is asking what lessons can be learned to protect vineyards within and beyond the nation’s borders
Great Cabernets of South America
Other varieties may hog the limelight across South America, but the world’s most popular grape for red wines has played a critical role in the continent's wine heritage. We trace Cabernet Sauvignon’s story here, and recommend 16 benchmark wines to try
PROVENCE by train and bike
With rail links to Paris, Nice, Marseilles and beyond, a vast network of cycle paths and quiet roads, and a plethora of historic wine estates, Provence is an ideal destination for an eco-friendly, car-free and carefree) holiday
IN THE MIX
These days most of the world’s vineyards are planted to just a single variety, but what happens when multiple varieties are planted, harvested and blended together?
Malvasia A BUYER'S GUIDE
If ever a grape was hard to pin down, it'd be Malvasia. Indeed it’s not even a single grape variety. In all of its many varied, and often completely unrelated guises, it has been the mainstay of popular wine styles across the centuries. Our expert takes a closer look...
RIBERA ADOPTS THE NEW OLD WAYS
It’s not so much a new direction for winemakers in Ribera del Duero, but a growing recognition that traditional methods and wine styles set aside by the previous generation can now provide a way ahead to revitalise the region
Roussanne around the world
Up for a challenge? For winemakers as much as wine drinkers, getting a handle on a mercurial grape such as Roussanne isn't easy. But wherever it's grown, when the balance is right, it truly repays the effort
Napa Cabernet 2021
There's a lot of excitement about this vintage, in which conditions were relatively calm and temperatures stable through summer. Ongoing drought reduced yields but intensified flavours, but it means quantities are down and you may need to act fast to secure top wines. Our Napa correspondent selects 60 great wines from more than 500 that he tasted, with many very high scores
10 reason to discover Uruguay
Squeezed between Brazil and Argentina on the Atlantic coast, Uruguay has mostly flown under the tourist radar - until now. Once dubbed 'the Switzerland of the Americas', it's a welcoming country that has much to offer the travelling wine lover
Leo Erazo
The old vines and special terroir of Itata, southern Chile, have beena source of inspiration for this intrepid winemaker. The 2023 fires were a setback, but his commitment to this ancient wine land is undiminished