Orange (Skin-Contact White)

Defining structure

Extended skin contact on white grapes. ABV 11–14%; tannic for a white.

History

Skin-contact white wine is the oldest continuous winemaking tradition on record — Georgian qvevri (buried clay vessel) production has run for an estimated 8,000 years, with white grapes vinified on skins and stems by default. Friuli's Josko Gravner pivoted toward qvevri-fermented white wine in the late 1990s after visits to Georgia, sparking a revival across northern Italy. The natural-wine movement of the 2000s and 2010s adopted skin-contact whites as a flagship category, with producers across Slovenia, Friuli, France, and the New World adding orange wines to their lineups. The category remains stylistically heterogeneous — anything from a few hours of skin contact to a full month, with corresponding tannin and color levels.

Food pairings

• fermented foods
• Asian cuisine
• aged cheese

Serving notes

Serve at 55°F like a light red.