ORANGE features a selection of macerations which invigorate and excite. Offering examples so filigree and fine they could be classified as genre-defying, alongside those with enough flesh and grip to stand up to the most robust of cooking, few wines are as versatile on the table as these.
GUTTAROLO
Amphora Bianca 2023
Puglia, Italy
Trebbiano from old vines planted over the limestone of the Murge Plateau. Half of the grapes were destemmed and fermented on the skins for a week, whilst the remainder were pressed directly to terracotta amphorae, where the wine rested for a year. The result is a pale, golden wine perfumed gently with citrus, chalk and brine. Framed by the faintest of tannins, a pleasant saltiness adds layers of intrigue.
Trebbiano
MANON
Peaches 2022
Adelaide Hills, South Australia
A maceration of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Savagnin, harvested as they become ripe and either kept as whole bunches or destemmed by hand and added to the mix. After around ten days of maceration, the grapes are pressed to old barrels and clay eggs for a year of rest. A deep shade of amber, it offers heady notes of baked citrus, jasmine and spice, whilst the palate is all flesh, tannin and grip. A brilliant iteration of one of our favourite wines.
Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Savagnin
LE COSTE
Bianco de Coccio 2020
Lazio, Italy
The only wine raised entirely in terracotta amphorae from this vintage and what a wine it is. Mostly Procanico, there is also a little Malvasia, Moscato and other local varieties in the mix. The grapes were destemmed and fermented on the skins for a fortnight, before a year of élevage in the clay vessels, rendering a deep, powerful amber wine that is all baked citrus, earth and spice.
Procanico, Malvasia, Moscato