Montenidoli – The New York Times

The What and Why of Orange Wines

By Eric Asimov
Dec. 27, 2021

“We don’t ordinarily get too deeply into the details of making wine, but we will with our next subject, orange wines, also known as amber wines or skin-contact whites.
The phrase “orange wine” was unknown 20 years ago, but the style and the techniques for producing the wines stretch back thousands of years.
Essentially, orange wines are whites produced using the techniques for making reds, just as rosés are reds produced using the methods for making whites. Yes, orange is the inverse of rosé.
As with natural wines, orange wines have moved from niche bottles known to only a small vanguard of consumers to something approaching mainstream. I would by no means call them conventional or common, even though more than a few commercially oriented producers now make orange wines. []

[]Here are the three wines I suggest seeking out:
Montenidoli Vernaccia di San Gimignano Tradizionale 2019 (Polaner Selections, Mount Kisco, N.Y.)
Monastero Suore Cistercensi Lazio Coenobium Ruscum 2019 (Rosenthal Wine Merchant, New York)
COS Terre Siciliane Pithos Bianco 2020 (Polaner Selections, Mount Kisco, N.Y.)


You’ll have noticed that these three bottles are Italian. It’s coincidental, though the style has been relatively popular in Italy. If you want to explore its ancient origins, try a wine from the country of Georgia, from a producer like Pheasant’s Tears or Okro’s.
Its more recent manifestation began where Friuli-Venezia Giulia in northeastern Italy meets the border of Slovenia. Look for great producers like Gravner, Radikon, Skerk, Vodopivec and Zidarich. These, along with the bottles from Georgia, may seem challenging as they can be decidedly tannic and altogether different from conventional white wines. But they are often supremely delicious.”