What is Orange Wine?

Orange wine is far from being new or just a fad. On the contrary, its production dates back to antiquity. The tradition of making orange wine comes from Caucasus, the cradle of viticulture. This region of the world, and more particularly present-day Georgia, developed a very special grape vinification technique, whose popularity then spread to Slovenia, then to Italy and to France. In the year 2000, this type of wine with its distinctive colour was given the designation 'Orange Wine'. It was the United States that initiated this process.

Several countries now produce their own orange wine. In addition to Georgia, where orange wine is still widespread, there are Slovenia, Italy, the United States, South Africa, New Zealand and France. In France, winemakers in the Loire, Jura and Languedoc regions have taken up the practice and are now producing unique wines. As the designation 'orange wine' is not limited in terms of grape varieties, any wine region with white grape varieties can produce this type of wine. So not all orange wines are alike!

An orange wine is nothing more than a white wine vinified as if it were a red wine! As such, white grapes are used to make orange wine. In the production of a white wine, the grapes are pressed directly after the harvest to collect the juice. The grape must is therefore not come in contact with the solid particles of the berry. The juice is clear, only very slightly tinted.

However, in red wine making, the berries are not pressed directly. The must macerate with the solid particles of the berry, i.e. the skin, the seeds and sometimes the stalk. These solid particles are rich in tannins, polyphenols and anthocyanins. These provide the tannic structure of the wine, the presence of antioxidant compounds, and the colour of the wine.

Similar to red wine then, in the making of orange wine, the white grapes are macerated in their entirety with its must and solid particles. In fact, before it was given the name 'orange wine', this type of wine was simply called 'white maceration wine', in reference to the production technique, which differs completely from that of traditional white wines. Classically, this maceration takes place in amphorae. These large clay jars are also called 'Qvevri' and originate from Caucasus. Very old amphorae from ancient times have been found in Georgia and bear witness to this technique of maceration. Even today, some wineries still vinify their orange wine in amphorae which are then buried underground. The maceration can last from a few days to several months. Orange wine can be found under the designation 'Georgian amber wine', as it has long been identified with this country.