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.
FRÉDÉRIC COSSARD
Zizifrédo 2021
Burgundy, France
A wine inspired by Fred’s love of Zibibbo, this is made up of roughly equal parts of Grenache Blanc and Muscat d’Alexandrie, which were macerated as whole bunches for seven months and aged in ceramic vessels for a year. A hazy shade of amber in the glass, fine tannins frame notes of ripe, tropical fruit alongside pleasantly deep, savoury notes. Thrillingly unique, this is a wine that offers boundless opportunity at the table.
Grenache Blanc, Muscat d’Alexandrie
DOMAINE DE L’OCTAVIN
Ivre de Vivre 2022
Jura, France
A blend of Vermentino, Marsanne and Roussane from Claude Ughetto in the Vaucluse. The Vermentino was pressed directly, whilst the others were either fermented as whole bunches or left to infuse in the juice of the Vermentino for a fortnight. After fermentation the wines were blended, pressed and left to rest in cuve until the following summer, producing a hazy, lively maceration that is all tangerine, sea salt and bitter herbs.
Vermentino, Marsanne, Roussane
FARNEA
Proganega 2021
Veneto, Italy
This is a blend of Procanico that Marco planted with massale selections from Le Coste, and Garganega from an old vineyard he farms further up in the hills from his home. It spent three weeks on skins, before ageing in cuve for eight months. A deep shade of amber, its fine tannins, citrus and smoke make for invigorating drinking.
Garganega, Procanico