I was asked last week what I thought of “Orange Wine”.
In my answer, I was a bit dismissive: a new fad, a bit like the sudden rush for Pet Nat, both of which have been around a long time, but have been recently “discovered” by millennials / Gen Z who are searching for something different.
It is true that Orange Wine has been around a while – I read it described as an “8,000-year-old overnight sensation”. That is a bit of an exaggeration: the process of making orange wine has been traced back to Georgia (not the US state but the European country) by many considered the place where wine making originated, some 3,000 years. All that time ago, grapes were crushed, (by hand) and the juice placed under ground in an “amphora” which is a pot made from terracotta. It is left there to ferment.
So – although considered trendy now, it has been around a while!
These days, Orange wine is made with white wine grapes and the juice is allowed to stay in contact with the skins for longer than normal for white wine. The previous head of wine at Ottolenghi, describes it as “a white wine made like a red wine”. It can be left for varying lengths of time, according to the winemaker’s preference, in terracotta “amphoras” or in stainless steel tanks. The longer the juice is left in contact with the grape skins, (a process known as “maceration”), the darker the colour – so you will find a range of colours from pale orange to deeper amber and copper. This can be a shock to those of us used to drinking the classic whites, reds and rosés.
Having been asked the question, I decided to take a look at the trend: sales of Orange wine are booming. The online supermarket Ocado has reported a 99% increase in sales since this time last year, with month-on-month rises of 437% in London, and 120% and 115% in Manchester and Kent respectively. All the main shops are now stocking a few orange wines.
Interesting to me, as the most common descriptions of most Orange wines include adjectives like “vegetal”, “ rotting fruit” , “bruised apple” and “wood varnish,” “ oxidised” “farmyard”. Each to their own!
Having said that, going back to the comment about “white wine made like a red”- orange wine does work well with food, especially the ubiquitous charcuterie and cheese plates that are offered in most pubs and wine bars.
The other trend is for “natural wine”. Again, not a new phenomenon.
Appealing to the younger drinker, who is looking for something different, the range of natural wines now available tend to be bottled with modern labels – no castles in sight! With tasting notes that liken the wines to other drinks – for example, “like cider” – these wines became “cool” and people started experimenting with them.
I remember being in Germany, the Mosel, several years ago just after harvest, and was offered an unusual bowl shaped glass with a twisted green glass stem, filled with a cloudy liquid. This was the “first pressing”, effectively, the grape juice before any major fermentation had taken place. It was a tough drink: sour and bitty with a slight smell of overly ripe apples. This is what “natural wine” reminds me of!
Natural wine is wine that has been made with minimal intervention i.e using traditional methods. The grapes are grown and harvested organically, with no intervention and then the wine is fermented with nothing added either.
Typically, natural wine grapes are typically grown on the smaller, independent producers, often using biodynamic practices. The wine is fermented only using the natural yeast that is present on the grape skins. No other yeast is added during fermentation.
There are no other additives either and these wines contain little or no added sulfites. Some sulfites occur naturally but they are often added as preservatives in conventional wines.
Natural wines are often unfiltered and unfined, which means they retain impurities (such as microbes and proteins) that contribute to their unique character. Winemakers use egg white or fish derivatives often to “fine2 the wine, but this is not used in the production of natural wine.
Going back to the aroma… natural wines do have a more yeasty smell (like rotting fruit!) Other smells like sour beer or pickled vegetables spring to mind..
Orange wine is an example of natural wines as is the aforementioned “Pet Nat” or to give it its full name: Pétillant-Naturel which literally means natural sparkling. This refers to any sparkling wine made in the méthode ancestrale, meaning the wine is bottled before primary fermentation is finished, without the addition of secondary yeasts or sugars.
In summary – nothing is new but these trends for Orange and Natural wines are attracting the younger generation to wine whereas there was a decline in wine drinking in that age group. Undoubtedly we will see more of them on menus and wine lists for this reason.
