Why this year’s trendiest wine is ... orange
ORANGE wine is being tipped as this summer’s most fashionable drink.
It relies on the skins of grapes being left in the juice for an extended time rather than being removed.
Some producers even use clay pots – based on the amphora methods favoured by the ancient Romans. There is little of the usual filtering or use of additives.
The result is a rich and complex wine that is increasingly finding favour with the experts.
Amelia Singer, of ITV’s The Wine Show, said shoppers could expect to see more orange wine in the shops. She said: ‘There is a real trend for tapas- style dishes and sharing platters, and that means people want a wine that can accompany lots of different flavours.
‘Where orange wine is this weird hybrid wine that is technically white but made like a red, it goes with lots of different foods.
‘People are becoming more adventurous, especially the younger generations. They’re less put off by what their wines look like, and more willing to try something new.’
Chapel Down, which makes wine in Kent, is helping resurrect orange wine.
Its winemaker, Josh Donaghay-Spire, said: ‘People are always looking for something a bit different in wine and this certainly ticks that box. Usually in white wine grapes are pressed and the skins are discarded but with orange wine the skins are left in for a bit to impart a bit of colour and flavour.
‘We’re a modern winery making modern wines but that doesn’t mean we can’t make wines the way it was done thousands of
‘The taste is smoky and it has a texture to it too. The volume of orange wine we make is small in comparison to the rest of our wine but the reaction to it has been brilliant.
‘It is a unique style of white wine with an interesting tannic edge that is rarely found in white wine and this can split opinion with wine drinkers.’