(2019) Don't even ask about the unusual name of this wine, but instead concentrate on a very good example of a wine in the 'orange wine' idiom, that is not too extreme and will serve both as a more gentle introduction to the style, and simply as a very nice wine. It's a blend of 66% Semillon and 34% Viognier, fermented with skin contact and aged 18 months in old barrels. The colour is an astonishing, luminous buttercup yellow, and the careful winemaking is evident: picking the Semillon a little late to avoid its sometimes herbaceous character, and the Viognier a little early to minimise it's tendency to become a little heavy and alcoholic - this has only 12.7% abv. Don't come looking for upfront fruitiness however: this has notes akin to Fino sherry on the nose, nuttiness and light kaolin, the palate dry, earthy and savoury, a bit of lemon curd and plenty of yeasty funk adding to the intrigue. A food wine for sure, watch the video for more information.
Orange wine is an interesting topic that I thought I knew nothing about until I found out that I have had an orange wine before, the Pithos Bianco Terre Siciliane from Azienda Agricola COS. Very tasty but not at all a typical white. It somehow vaguely reminded me of a sercial madeira. The color was unusual also, being sort of an iridescent orange. It’s a nice wine style for a change of pace.
Ned, I think “a nice wine style for a change of pace,” is a pretty good summing up of my position on ‘orange’ wines too. There are some who are zealous converts to the style, others who can’t stand it, but in a sea of fruity and ‘pleasant’ white wines it is nice to try something a bit different, especially once you get your head around the aroma and flavour profile which is so different. COS is a big producer of natural and skin-contact wines, but the far north and far south of Italy have quite a few following this path. Thanks for the comment as always.