Three of the best orange wines, the whites that are made like reds

Orange, or amber, wine is creating a lot of buzz these days. According to Decanter magazine, the term is “increasingly used for white wines where the grapes were left in contact with their skins for days, weeks or even months. Effectively, this is a white wine made as if it were a red.”

Ranging from amber to copper in tone, the colour is derived from grape juice’s contact with grape skins, rather than oxidation. The aromatics are unique, and often evocative of autumn, with a nose of intense, dried candied fruit and nuts. Tasted blind, the wine can be mistaken for a red with its firm structure and high tannins.

Orange wine is still a niche product, made in Georgia, Italy and Slovenia. It may sound like a new fad, but its history stretches back 8,000 years. One of the earliest examples comes from Georgia, where the wine is made in a qvevri (pronounced kev-ree), a conical-shaped amphora buried in the ground.

Master of Wine Jancis Robinson says, “Georgian qvevri wines also tend to be seriously structured. The best producers achieve balance and elegance, but with poor winemaking or unripe tannins the result can be a clumsy mess akin to chewing cold tea leaves.”

With their firm tannic structure and savouriness, orange wines are versatile for food pairing. They can be difficult to find, but a few Hong Kong importers are bringing in Georgian amber wines. Here are three orange wines to try.