EN 
DE 
FR 
IT Orange Wine
White wine made like a red.
Orange wine is produced from white grapes that ferment together with their skins, often for weeks, sometimes for months. The result is a colour ranging from gold to amber, a fine tannic structure and a depth that brings white and red wine together in a single glass.
What is orange wine?
In classic white winemaking, grapes are pressed immediately after harvest and only the clear juice ferments. With orange wine, the skins, pips and sometimes even the stems remain in the must, just as with red wine. During fermentation, the alcohol produced extracts colour compounds, phenolics and tannins from the skins, turning the wine golden, coppery or deep amber. It has nothing to do with oranges; the name refers solely to the colour. Other common terms include Orange Wein, Orangewein, amber wine, skin-contact wine or macerated white wine, and Brisat in Catalonia.
A rosé comes from red grapes that have only a few hours’ contact with their skins, whereas an orange wine is made from white grapes that spend considerably longer on the skins. Many classic white wines also rest on their skins at cool temperatures for several hours before pressing to enhance aroma. However, a wine only becomes an orange wine when the must ferments with the skins, because it is the alcohol that extracts tannin in any significant quantity. The OIV, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, even stipulates a minimum of one month’s skin contact for its definition of “white wine with maceration”.
And what about natural wine? Orange is a method; natural wine is a cellar philosophy. An orange wine can be made with cultured yeast and filtered; a natural wine can appear brilliantly pale in the glass. Nevertheless, there is a reason why the two are so often mentioned together: most producers who ferment white grapes on the skins work with wild yeasts and minimal sulphur. In our selection, 51 of the 64 orange wines are also natural wines. More on this can be found on our Natural wine page.
Four key variables on the skins
All orange wines share the same fundamental concept. Their flavour profile is determined by four factors that lie in the winemaker’s hands.
Skin contact duration
Days, weeks or months
The range extends from a few days to over six months. A few days yield aroma and a hint of grip, two weeks to three months produce the classic amber hue, whilst longer periods deliver maximum depth. There is no universal minimum requirement: South Africa mandates 96 hours, Ontario ten days, and the OIV one month.
Tannin and colour
What the skins impart
Skins and pips supply phenols, and these make all the difference: skin-contact white wines have been measured at 447 to 2,211 milligrams of total phenols per litre, while Qvevri wines approach red wine levels. The colour derives from these phenols and from the oxygen the wine encounters.
The vessel
Clay, wood, concrete, steel
The Georgian Qvevri is an egg-shaped clay vessel buried up to its neck in the earth, maintaining a steady 14 to 15 degrees without any technology; fermentation, maceration and maturation all take place in the same vessel. The Spanish Tinaja typically stands above ground. Large wooden casks allow a gentle ingress of oxygen and soften the tannins, concrete remains neutral, and steel preserves the fruit.
Air and sulphur
How openly the wine is allowed to develop
Open-top fermenters, wood and clay permit air to reach the wine, deepening both colour and nutty notes. At the same time, tannins protect the wine from oxidation, which is why many orange wines require very little or no added sulphur whatsoever; in the Georgian Qvevri tradition this is the norm. In our selection, 11 orange wines are entirely sulphur-free.
Orange, natural wine, Ramato, rosé: what governs what?
Four terms that are often confused. The difference lies in the grape and the time spent on the skins.
| Orange Wine | Natural Wine | Ramato | Rosé | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grapes | White grapes | Any colour | Pinot Grigio with grey-pink berry skin | Red grapes |
| Skin contact | Days to months; the must ferments with the skins | Not defined | Hours to about one day | A few hours |
| Colour | Gold to deep amber | White, orange, rosé or red | Copper to salmon pink | Pink |
| What is regulated | The technique of skin fermentation | Cellar practices: wild yeast, no additives, minimal sulphur | An ancient winemaking tradition from Friuli | Short skin contact for red grapes |
| Status | In the EU, classified as white wine without its own category; separate categories in South Africa (2015) and Ontario (2017); OIV definition since 2020 | Not legally protected; standards are set by winemakers’ charters | Name derived from treaties of the Republic of Venice; “ramato” means copper-coloured | Established wine style |
Austria permits the additional designation “Orangewein” on the label; under this rule, cloudiness and oxidative notes are not considered faults. Under broader EU law, an orange wine is simply a white wine, and 19 of our orange wines carry Vin de France, IGT or IGP in their name.
Eight thousand years of clay
The name is new. The idea behind it ranks among the oldest techniques in viticulture.
The world’s oldest chemical traces of wine come from Georgia. In ceramic vessels from Gadachrili Gora and Shulaveris Gora, some 50 kilometres south of Tbilisi, researchers identified wine in 2017 that dates back to between 6000 and 5800 BC. Wine made in clay vessels thus boasts a history of well over 8,000 years. To this day in Georgia, following the Kakhetian method, the entire must including stems remains buried in a qvevri for around six months, while the Imeretian method uses roughly one third of the skins for 15 to 30 days. On 4 December 2013, UNESCO inscribed the qvevri method on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
In Friuli and neighbouring western Slovenia, too, skin fermentation of white grapes was common household practice for centuries, until it fell out of fashion in the 1950s and 1960s. It made its comeback in Oslavia, a village in the Collio on the Slovenian border. In 1995, Stanko Radikon left his Ribolla Gialla on the skins for longer than a week for the first time, just as his grandfather had done before him. Joško Gravner lost much of his crop to hail in 1996 and from 1997 onwards fermented everything on the skins. In 2000 he travelled to Georgia and ordered eleven qvevris; from the 2001 vintage, all his wines were aged in buried clay amphorae.
Across the border in Goriška Brda, which belongs to the same hill range as the Collio, estates such as Movia, Klinec, Kabaj, Batič and Čotar followed suit. The style only received its name in 2004: British importer David A. Harvey coined the term “orange wine” while working in Frank Cornelissen’s cellar on Mount Etna.
Today, orange wines are produced from Croatia to California, from New Zealand to South Africa; in his 2018 book Amber Revolution, Simon J. Woolf profiled no fewer than 180 producers across 20 countries. We do not currently stock wines from Georgia or Slovenia. Our 64 orange wines come from France, Italy, Austria, Spain and Germany, and they illustrate just how far the style has travelled: from Alsace to Sicily, from Burgenland to Catalonia’s Montsant.
Three styles, three timeframes
Skin contact time is the most reliable guide through the shelf. The longer the skins remain in the must, the deeper the colour, tannin and spice become.
Briefly macerated and pale
A few days to two weeks on the skins: the colour remains pale gold to apricot, the tannin reveals itself as a delicate grip, and the fruit takes centre stage. The ideal introduction. The Flora 2023 from Roterfaden, made from Muskateller and Weißburgunder, fermented for five days on the skins and delivers just 10% alcohol in the glass. Heinrich’s naked orange, from Chardonnay, Weißburgunder and Grauburgunder, seems only gently touched by skin contact, with notes of mandarin, rosehip and rooibos.
Classic: weeks on the skins
Two weeks to three months is the most common range: visible amber, perceptible grip, aromas of dried apricot, orange peel and tea. Trapet Alsace’s Ambre Blanc Muscat Macere 2021, a Muskateller from the Grand Cru Schoenenbourg, spent two weeks on the skins and combines floral perfume with fine tannin. Matassa’s Brutal Orange VdF 2024, made from Macabeu, fermented for three to four weeks as whole bunches, without added sulphur and at 10% alcohol.
Long maceration and amphora-aged
Several months on the skins, often in clay: deep amber to copper, robust tannin, notes of nuts, tea and dried herbs. Foradori’s Fuoripista Pinot Grigio Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT 2024, from Grauburgunder, matured for over eight months on the skins in Spanish tinajas and glows copper-red. Du Bouchot’s Vin Orange, Vin de Macération VdF 2021, from the first organically certified estate in Pouilly-Fumé, spent five months on the skins.
Which grape varieties are suitable? Thick-skinned, phenol-rich varieties such as Ribolla Gialla withstand long maceration periods without becoming bitter. Aromatic varieties like Gewürztraminer, Zibibbo and Malvasia gain texture and tame their opulence. In Georgia, Rkatsiteli, Mtsvane and Kisi are the classics; in Catalonia, Macabeu, Xarel·lo and Garnatxa Blanca; in Austria and Germany, Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. All 64 wines can be found under Orange Wine.
What does orange wine taste like, and how should it be served?
The acidity of a white wine, the tannins of a red: orange wine is a wine for the table.
On the nose, it reveals dried apricot, orange peel, baked apple, tea, nuts, honey and herbs; on the palate, fresh acidity meets fine-grained tannins, delicate or robust depending on maceration time. Simon J. Woolf compares its structure to that of light northern Italian reds such as Valpolicella or Bardolino.
Start at 12 to 14 degrees, as too cold a temperature makes the tannins feel harsh and mutes the aromas. Lighter styles with only a few days of maceration can handle 10 to 12 degrees, while full-bodied, long-macerated wines show best close to room temperature. A red wine glass with a wide bowl gives the wine space to breathe. Decanting is particularly worthwhile for Qvevri and amphora wines: half an hour to an hour in a carafe opens them up noticeably.
At the table, orange wine acts as a bridge. Its tannins complement fat, spice and umami, making it an ideal match for fermented dishes such as kimchi and miso, the spiced cuisines of North Africa, India and the Middle East, as well as aged cheeses, charcuterie, mushrooms and grilled vegetables. Lighter styles accompany seafood beautifully. And because tannins and phenolics protect the wine from oxidation, top-quality long-macerated wines can age gracefully for years.
Nine wineries, five countries
38 wineries in our range produce orange wines. These nine showcase the full spectrum, from Roussillon to Burgenland.
Matassa
Tom Lubbe trained under Gérard Gauby in Calce and vinified his first vintage in 2003 in his living room. Today he harvests 20 hectares of ancient vines so early that his wines rarely exceed 12% alcohol; since 2015 they have been made without sulphur and without filtration.
Discover
Trapet Alsace
Andrée Trapet has run her parents’ estate in Riquewihr since 2002, together with Jean-Louis Trapet from Gevrey-Chambertin; the 15 hectares spanning four Grand Crus are Demeter-certified. Their sons Pierre and Louis have created their own line of macerated amber wines.
Discover
Marco de Bartoli
In 1978, former racing driver Marco de Bartoli began working with the old Grillo grape in Samperi near Marsala, turning the world of Marsala on its head. His children’s skin-macerated Integer Zibibbo shows just how approachable an orange wine can be: 11% alcohol yet enormously spicy.
Discover
Vino Lauria
Near Alcamo, 65 kilometres south-west of Palermo, Vito Lauria has revived the winery founded by his grandfather in 1958. His organically farmed vines grow at altitudes between 600 and 1,000 metres, and his Solerte Macerato from Zibibbo is among the most accessible orange wines in our range.
Discover
Heinrich
Gernot and Heike Heinrich have expanded their estate from two to one hundred hectares; biodynamic since 2006, they co-founded respekt-BIODYN in 2009. Their Freyheit wines spend fourteen days on the skins and mature in amphorae and wooden casks crafted by a local cooper.
Discover
Meinklang
In Pamhagen, at the lowest point in Austria, the Michlits family combines viticulture, livestock farming and cereal cultivation on a Demeter-certified estate. Werner and Angela Michlits produce spontaneously fermented wines such as the Graupert Grauburgunder from unpruned vines.
Discover
Odinstal
350 metres above the Rhine Valley, nestled in a forest hollow near Wachenheim, the vines grow on basalt, shell limestone, Keuper and coloured sandstone; Demeter-certified since 2013. Andreas Schumann’s Riesling [Nakt] is a cuvée of three vintages, fermented on the skins and bottled unfiltrated.
Discover
Vins Nus
Vins Nus means “naked wines” in Catalan: architect Alfredo Arribas focuses on acidity, minimal wood and zero sulphur in Montsant. He ferments his Grenache Gris from over 700 metres altitude in amphorae, and the Instabile Brisat already bears the Catalan term for orange wine in its name.
DiscoverFrequently asked questions about orange wine
What is orange wine?
Orange wine is a white wine made like a red: the white grapes ferment together with their skins, and often with pips and stems as well. During this process, colour, phenols and tannins pass into the wine, turning it golden to amber and giving it a fine grip. It has nothing to do with oranges; the name refers solely to its colour.
Is orange wine natural wine?
Not automatically. Orange wine denotes a method – skin-contact fermentation of white grapes – whereas natural wine describes cellar practices using wild yeasts, no additives and minimal sulphur. Many winemakers combine both approaches: in our range, 51 of the 64 orange wines are also natural wines.
How is orange wine made?
The white grapes, along with their skins and pips, are placed in a fermentation vessel where they ferment, usually spontaneously with wild yeasts. After a few days, several weeks or even months, the must is pressed, and the wine then matures in clay, wood, concrete or steel. The length of skin contact and the type of vessel shape the colour, tannin structure and aroma more than anything else.
What does orange wine taste like?
Notes of dried apricot, orange peel, tea and nuts, with the acidity of a white wine and the tannins of a light red. Wines with short maceration appear fresh and fruity, while those with extended maceration are deep, spicy and firm in tannin.
At what temperature should orange wine be served, and should it be decanted?
Ideally at 12 to 14 degrees; lighter styles from 10 degrees, and fuller, long-macerated wines close to room temperature – if served too cold, the tannins can seem harsh. Qvevri and amphora wines benefit from half an hour to an hour in a carafe and are best enjoyed in a red wine glass.
How much alcohol does orange wine contain?
Alcohol levels depend primarily on grape ripeness and harvest date, and generally fall within the range typical for white wines. In our selection, for example, Matassa’s Brutal Orange and Roterfaden’s Flora have 10%, while Foradori’s Fuoripista has 12.5%.
What food pairs well with orange wine?
Its tannins complement fat, spice and umami: orange wine pairs beautifully with kimchi and miso, the spiced cuisines of North Africa, India and the Middle East, as well as aged cheese, charcuterie and mushrooms. Lighter styles also accompany seafood.
Where does orange wine come from?
Its roots lie in Georgia, where wine has been made in clay vessels for around 8,000 years and the qvevri method has been recognised as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2013. The modern movement began in 1995 and 1997 in Oslavia in the Collio and spread to Slovenia’s Brda region. We do not currently stock wines from Georgia or Slovenia; our 64 orange wines come from France, Italy, Austria, Spain and Germany.
Which grape varieties are suitable for orange wine?
Varieties with thick, phenol-rich skins such as Ribolla Gialla are particularly well suited, as are aromatic varieties like Muskateller, Gewürztraminer, Zibibbo and Malvasia, which gain texture from skin contact. Grey-pink berries such as Grauburgunder yield coppery hues, while in Georgia Rkatsiteli, Mtsvane and Kisi are the classics.
What is the difference between orange wine and rosé?
Rosé is made from red grapes with just a few hours of skin contact, whereas orange wine is made from white grapes that ferment on their skins for days to months. A special case is Ramato from Friuli: Pinot Grigio with brief skin contact that takes on a copper colour thanks to the grey-pink berry skins.
64 Orange Wines. 38 Estates. Five Countries.
From unsulphured Macabeu from Roussillon to Pinot Grigio aged in tinaja: our orange wines come from winemakers we have personally selected.