White Grapes Left To Be

Touching me.

Touching you.

Flesh to flesh.

A sensation like no other.

Just as the human touch can turn you on, reach the pit of your stomach and beyond, so is the power of grape skins when in contact with their juice.

Skins pressing all up on that juice. A transformative, often essential experience for the life of a wine.

It’s not that I just now discovered them or got into them, but damn guys, are you drinking “orange” wines lately? Because when paired with these warmer temps, I’ve had a plethora of “skin contact wines” that have really made my palate wet recently. (Insert squirt emoji).

As I sip, I’m reminded of the time I crammed for the WSET D1 exam, reading the book for perhaps the fifth time and feeling like an oversaturated sponge, unable to hold any more wine knowledge. (I passed by the way!!!!!!)

The thing is, orange wine clearly isn’t the right term–it’s confusing to the majority of wine drinkers. They think actual orange be in that baby! That it’s not just a reference to color. And then skin contact isn’t quite right either.

Technically, skin contact is a term that relates to pre-fermentation. The WSET says, “Skin contact is the process of leaving the juice in contact with the skins to extract compounds from the skins (similar to cold soaking in red winemaking).” They go on to say, “At the extreme end of the spectrum, there are some wines made from white grapes that are fermented on their skins (and may undergo post-fermentation maceration) without temperature control or sulfur additions”.

The orange wines that we are loving are white grapes left to be. White grapes left to become wine. Skin contact fermentation. Uncontrolled skin contact.

…as a marketer, I get why they opted for a sweet, simple “orange”. But “skin-fermented white wines” makes more sense…if you’re looking to get technical.

Lots of white “white” wines undergo skin contact, in fact nearly all aromatic varieties. Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Viognier and even Sauvignon Blanc. From hours to days, these scented souls soak up what the skins have to offer: flavor extraction and enhanced texture.

However, when fermenting with the skins, you go next level, inviting in oxidation to veer from your typical white to create tantalizing tertiary tastes.

I’m not being snobby here. Go ahead, say orange wine, skin contact wine, whatever floats your boat. But when really trying to understand these wines, know that it is a real love affair.

Skin against skin for an extended period of time. Not a one-night stand. No flings. A dedicated relationship between skin and juice. Slow love-making, not a fast fuck. Really reaching the depths of a grape to knowww it.

Ya know?