amber wine / orange wine
Nothing to do with the citrus fruit, orange wine or amber wine is made from white wine grapes. While white wine is fermented from white grape juice with little to no skin contact, orange wine/amber wine is fermented with the skins and seeds, and sometimes even with the stems. The color of a wine comes less from the flesh and juice than from the skin. For that reason, the skins of white grapes impart an orange to amber hue to the wine.
Besides imparting color, the seeds, skins, and stems provide tannins—a dry, grippy quality found in some red wines—to orange wine. When drinking orange/amber wine, expect the slight astringency of a red wine and the crispness of a white. Just like all other wines, orange/amber wines differ widely depending on the grape variety, terroir, and winemaking style. But as a general guide, they are medium- to full- bodied, with robust characteristics of nuts, tea, and dried fruit. By virtue of its bold flavors, medium to high acidity, low alcohol, and significant body, it can be paired perfectly with various dishes—from the spicy, to umami, and salty.
Today, orange wine / amber wine is being made in all parts of the world including Australia, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Italy, Mexico, Slovenia, and the United States.
Of all the wine districts in Slovenia, few are held in such high regard as Goriška Brda. Goriška Brda (or Brda for short) is a district in Slovenia’s Primorska region. Brda is basically an extension of Italy’s Collio DOCG. It actually could be considered the other way around, as Goriška Brda has almost three times …
Slovenian White Wine Part 2: Spotlight on Goriška Brda Read More »
Is it Slovenian, is it Italian? Ribolla Gialla or Rebula? The answer might not be so clear cut. Ribolla Gialla is commonly accepted as an Italian variety but Slovenia isn’t willing to throw in the towel just yet. There are approximately 700 hectares of Rebula in Western Slovenia and about 400 in Northeastern Italy. This …
Rebula: Slovenian Wine’s Flagship Variety? Read More »
Do you like wines with a touch of bottle age? Croatia is a fascinating country with plenty of quality wines made from both indigenous and international varieties. Thanks to the high volume of tourists and a voracious local market, the best producers sell out of their production every vintage. This is a great thing for …
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Reading Time: Hello! Welcome to As Drunk by Exotic Wine Travel, a weekly column where we feature interesting wines that we encourage you to seek out. The reviews featured in this series may be written by either one or the both of us. The featured wines can be from obscure or well-known wine regions. We hope that …
Organic Cuvée Marie Vallis Albus 2015 Read More »
Reading Time: Hello! Welcome to As Drunk by Exotic Wine Travel, a weekly column where we feature interesting wines that we encourage you to seek out. The reviews featured in this series may be written by either one or the both of us. The featured wines can be from obscure or well-known wine regions. We hope that …
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Reading Time: “If you like odd grape, then this is something for you. You would either love it or hate it.” That was our introduction to Ribolla Gialla. We were at an Italian restaurant in Yerevan, and our friend suggested that we order a bottle of yellow wine (gialla means yellow in Italian) from Friuli-Venezia …
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Reading Time: In the Spring of 2018, we set out on a re-tour of Croatia to bring our book Cracking Croatian Wine: A Visitor Friendly-Guide to life. There was so much to share about Istria that we ended up shooting four episodes there. In part 1 of Cracking Croatian Wine in Istria, we offer an overview of the …
Cracking Croatian Wine in Istria (Part 4/4) Read More »
Reading Time: “You’re a really good agriculturist but you’re a bad winemaker.” Angiolino Maule, La Biancara‘s winemaker and founder, thinks this statement from oenologist Franco Giacosa might have changed the course of his life as a winemaker. “In the past, I would say a good wine is 90% vineyard and 10% winery. Today, I would say that …
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Reading Time: In the Spring of 2018, we set out on a re-tour of Croatia to bring our book Cracking Croatian Wine: A Visitor Friendly-Guide to life. After Plešivica, our second stop was the Istria wine region. There was so much to share about Istria that we ended up shooting four episodes there. In Part 1 of Cracking Croatian …
Cracking Croatian Wine In Istria (Part 1/4) Read More »
Reading Time: Hello! Welcome to As Drunk by Exotic Wine Travel, a weekly column where we feature interesting wines that we encourage you to seek out. The reviews featured in this series may be written by either one or the both of us. The featured wines can be from obscure or well-known wine regions. We hope that …
Hummel Góré Hárslevelü 2015 Read More »