Orange wine, alongside white, red and rosé, is now totally part of it. We also saw this in the number of entries for the Rice& tasting. Four years ago, we received about 35 bottles for the tasting with the same theme. Now 63 came in. Not all orange wines are also literally orange, but when it is a white wine fermented with the skins, it may proudly bear that royal name.
Text: Magda van der Rijst | Image: Michael Dziedzic, Unsplash
Although by no means everyone orange wine knows and it still sounds hip, this way of making wine is thousands of years old. It originates from Georgia where, in the past, it was made in earthenware amphorae, kvevri, grapes were fermented with skin and all, producing a dark-coloured, firm white wine. Over the centuries, methods changed. White grapes were destemmed and pressed, earthenware jars gave way to barrels made of wood, concrete and stainless steel, sulphite was added to prevent oxidation and all this led to a pale yellow white wine with a fresh, fruity taste.
New Wave
That change took place everywhere except in Georgia. There, they continued to work habitually in their own way. About 25 years ago, winemakers from Italy's Friuli and Slovenia's Goriška Brda rediscovered the originally Georgian approach. From those regions, the new orange wave emerged and slowly spread. Although it is still niche is, orange wine now comes in all kinds of varieties from all over the world.
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