Orange wine, skin-contact wine, amber wine - whatever the terminology you use, these are some of the most enthralling & unique wines in the world of natural wine.
In contrast with conventional white wine production where the grapes are crushed and skins removed right away, the juice for orange wines is left in contact with the skins for days, weeks or even months, extracting pigments & tannins that give the wine that striking amber hue and sometimes a bit of grip.
Despite a reputation as the new kid on the block and something of a natural oddity, orange wines have a history of production dating back thousands of years in Georgia and several hundreds of years in Slovenia and Italy and are now made across the world from Sussex to Sicily, Alsace to Australia.
Often challenging but always memorable, it’s great to see orange wines firmly back with a place at the table, and not just because they’re so wonderful with food. Check out a few of our favourites below.