Orange wine anyone?

One of my USA forums has Carignan and Orange wine as this months "focus" so 2 choices. Think it is going to take some searching for both here in my area?
My fave store downtown does not have much of a choice of either. Thoughts welcome from all you orange wine believers!!

Oh have to add, a brilliant Jadot tasting last night so stay tuned.
 
I’ve had some very good orange or skin contact whites over the last few years. Two spring to mind

A 2007 Gravner Breg

Served in one of 67PMs Montrachet glasses which served it well. First time trying this producer - a leading exponent of amphora orange wines

Gorgeous colour - almost like a brandy.
The nose is amazingly intense and has me scratching my head for aromas - almost a hint of oud, tropical hard woods, incense, burnt orange, some minerality. Everything is laser like though - super clean and precise
Silky palate with the slightly discombobulating feeling of orange wines of tannins on the background of white wine flavours.

This was a real treat, such an interesting but above all, well made wine





2019 Foradori Pinot Grigio Fuoripista Vigneti delle Dolomiti

Another Foradori orange wine

Well the colour out of the bottle was a surprise (perhaps the orange wax on the bottle should have been a giveaway). Quite a romantic colour - makes me think of a sunset!

Nose, initially very reductive but actually mostly blows off fairly soon, behind that is a wonderful tangerine note and a saline crispness

Palate delivers the tangerine with a hint of strawberry too. There is a nicely luscious mouthfeel but overall this was just what was needed on a hot summers evening. Not a typical Pinot Grigio!

Recommended music accompaniment: “Love on a Real Train” by Tangerine Dream
 
Orange wine can be great. Gravner got me into the style and it’s a style that seems to be very popular with the younger drinking generation.

Here in Auz Ruggabellus are the top of the tree, with the ‘basic’ Salio and the 2 higher level blends, Quomodo and Solumodo. Stunning wines.
 
I have had a few over the last five years or so and have not been very taken with them . I remember one in particular at a very expensive tasting menu type restaurant that will remain nameless was an Emperor's New Clothes of a wine - but felt that suggesting it tasted like bad old white Rioja would have been like saying the sommelier was" in the altogether " as Danny Kaye might have sung .

I have been rather cautious then in respect of a bottle of Litmus Orange Wine 2020 from Denbies that I have been given .After a very tough week of work I decided to open it out of interest . It is , that sort of spring evening freshness one often gets from good Bacchus but with a sort of stony , almondy, white currant note and a long finish I was not expecting. Recommended .
 
We are not the whole Trump though. All the juice gets about 24hrs skin contact, with about 20% fermented on skins almost until dryness.
That's the thing though. Orange wine is not a single style. There is a whole spectrum from Nayan's orange wine to the "whole trump" where the juice/wine stays on the 100% of the skins and stalks, from crushing to months after the fermentation has stopped.

It's analogous to (though not exactly the same as) the red spectrum from a very pale rosé to an old-fashioned Barolo. You cannot reasonably pick a couple of wines somewhere along that spectrum and decide you don't like red wine. (And this is is without considering different grape varieties and other winemaking interventions.)

My current personal preference is for the big tannic style of orange wine, but that may be just be an sign of my immature tastes - I also used to like thumping big reds. We'll see.
 
My personal favourite is the Vino di Anna Palmento Bianco, a field blend from the north side of Etna, of mostly Grecanico and Catarratto with a bit of Carricante, Inzolia, Minella and Grillo. It's half orange and half white, which I think works perfectly in this case. It's mostly the Grecanico that is left on the skins, and just for 7 days, so the skin characteristics are not too dominant, there is varietal character and lots of freshness too.

Another Sicilian, the COS Pithos Bianco is a superb amphora aged orange wine, 100% Grecanico. A bit more full on in the orange style, but really good.
 
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