The fashion for orange wines (or macerates) does not subside, but what are they really?
They are characterised by their long soaking on the skins, but they are not wines for all consumers and all producers: if they are not good, the result makes them flat and similar, if not undrinkable
3' min read
3' min read
Fashions cannot be commanded: wine is no exception, and at times it too finds itself on the ready-to-wear catwalk. The latest display of a popular trend is Orange Wine. Let's see what it is all about. Lightly and as secular an approach as possible since, in fact, they are not at the top of my preferences..
The Americans invented the label - with their usual chromatic fantasy - although I prefer to call them macerated, because that is what they are: white wines produced with long maceration on the skins. The result? When you drink them, you recognise and distinguish the method (the technique) more than the grape variety or the terroir. A bit like certain designer bags where the logo overpowers the quality of the material. I should add - incidentally and at the risk of repeating myself - thatthe wines our grandparents made at home were a bit of that stuff; so it's not exactly a hipster invention.
The history is in fact ancient, indeed thousands of years old. In the Caucasus they were already making wine this way thousands of years ago: macerating served to preserve the wine better, thanks to the polyphenols and tannins in the skins, recognised natural preservatives. Why then dust them off today? Partly because in the 1990s a few pioneers (Gravner and Radikon above all) in the Oslavia area decided to put themselves to the test by choosing a radical approach, often linked to organic and biodynamic. A production philosophy that looks backwards in order to move forward. In today's times, they also serve as a pretext to say: 'I don't drink, I experiment'! Pass me the frisk, but I like the idea;
The prolonged contact with the skins gives the wine that cold tea colour and, above all, an unexpected tannic texture for a white. The nose and mouthfeel are all a little flat - in my opinion - very similar to each other, quite homologous let's say, albeit with breadth, persistence and enough volume and body. Only in cases where the ageing takes place in terracotta amphorae do I find the theme more complete and interesting, especially when it plays the game of time, of ageing. However, this is not always the case!
One detail I would like to point out concerns the serving temperature. On average they are served at 16-18 degrees. In my case - when they do happen to be in the glass - wines with long macerations displease less if served cooler. But here we enter the realm of personal taste and that is fine.
