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Irish Independent
27-06-2025
- General
- Irish Independent
Orange is the new white for summer wine nights
They sit in between a white and a red wine, being made with white wine grapes but in a method closer to red wine production. As such, they offer some of the charms of both, typically retaining the vibrant acidity of white wines but combining that with something of the textural quality offered by tannins associated with red wines. They tend to be very versatile with food, though the lighter, more quaffable 'vin de soif' styles don't need food. Orange wines (or amber wines as they are sometimes dubbed) are so-called because of their colour, ranging from light gold through bright tangerine to dark amber. They are also called skin-contact wines, in reference to the key difference between orange and white wines. In white wine production, the pulp of skin and pips doesn't come into contact with the grape's juice after pressing. Orange wine starts out like red wine, in which that pulp is an important ingredient in the process. Instead of removing the crushed grape skins after pressing, as in white wine production, the skins are left to macerate in the grape juice during and often long after fermentation. Red wines take their colour and their tannic qualities from the grape skins (and the pips, in the case of tannins). Tannins are what give certain red wines a drying, astringent effect on your mouth and gums; the tannins in strong tea do the same thing. Different grape varieties yield different levels of tannin and colour, depending on the thickness and pigmentation of their skins. Some grapes are small with thick skins, meaning a lower potential juice-to-skin ratio; others are larger grapes with thinner skins, meaning a higher ratio of juice. Winemakers can also control how much colour and tannin they extract by various choices that they make, including how long they leave the skins in contact with the juice. Likewise, for orange wines, the duration of skin contact can range from a few hours to several weeks or months, depending on what the winemaker is hoping to achieve and what grapes he is working with. Orange wines are often (but not always) made in a low-intervention 'natural' style, with nothing removed through filtering or fining, and nothing added including sulfites. Today's selection are chosen for their summer drinking charms. Wines of the week Giannitessari Rebellis da Uve Solaris 2022, Veneto Bianco IGT, Italy, 13pc, €25 This beautifully fragrant, golden-hued orange wine offers bright aromas of chervil and saffron, a subtle tannic grip and notes of watermint meets kumquat and citrus blossom before a bone-dry finish. Made in an oxidative style from Solaris, a naturally fungus-resistant grape variety (aka Pilzwiderstandsfähig, or PiWi), given a week's skin contact before ageing in terracotta amphora for 12 months. A great choice for Middle Eastern spiced dishes. Whelehans Wines; Kumpf & Meyer, Y'a Plus Qu'a!, Vin de France, 13.5pc, €27.95 Dark amber and intensely aromatic with notes of mango, juicy pear and candied orange peel, this multi-vintage, skin-contact Alsace blend of Sylvaner and Auxerrois grapes is bottled unfiltered with no added sulfites. Dry and refreshing, it's a perfect summer evening quaffer. L'Atitude 51; Georg Lingenfelder Morio Muskat 2022, Pfalz, Germany, 10.5pc, €24.95 Warm amber in colour with rich aromatics of orange barley water, nectarine jam, pineapple juice, turmeric and honeysuckle, this drinks fresh and vibrant with quince, kumquat and pineapple notes, subtle tannic grip, juicy acidity and a vibrant finish. Try with lemon roast chicken or oily fish with ginger. O'Brien's Wine; Folias De Baco, Uivo Curtido Branco, Douro, Portugal, 10.5pc, €23.50 I previously featured the lightly sparkling pét-nat version of this, but this still wine is equally delicious: super pretty with explosive aromas of peach and tangerine and clean herbal notes, made from Moscatel Galego grapes given four months' skin contact in cement tanks. Independents including Green Man Wines, Pinto Wines, Baggot Street Wines, Authochthon Bencze 2022, Balaton, Hungary, 11.5pc, €29.95 Spiced citrus and black lime notes in a concentrated, tangy wine made in an oxidative style, featuring three local grape varieties including Furmint grown in volcanic soils under organic certification with biodynamic viticulture, with eight days' skin contact and aged in amphorae. Sheridans (Galway), MacCurtain Wine Cellar (Cork), Blackrock Cellar, Loose Canon, Lennox Street Grocer
Irish Independent
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Poland's fast-evolving and fun wine culture comeback
Their status as Ireland's only Polish wine importer is very new, with their first official trade tasting earlier this month. Cleverly, however, they built a fanbase for Polish wines ahead of importing them. In spring 2022, they held their first Polish wine festival at Dublin's Fumbally Stables. Now annual, this public wine fair features informative masterclasses from Polish wine writer Maciej Nowicki, providing historical context about Poland's unique contemporary wine culture. Wine has been produced in Poland since 12th-century monks were at it. The practice fell away under communism and is now making a rapid comeback. In 2009, the first wave of modern Polish vineyards began selling wine. Within a year, there were 21 registered commercial vineyards; today, there are 703 (an extra 136 since 2024). Global warming is making this cool-climate region more viable for vitis vinifera grapes like Pinot Noir and Riesling as well as hybrid grapes like Seyval Blanc and, more recently, disease-resistant PiWi grapes (more of which another week) like Solaris, Rondo and Cabernet Cortis. A new generation of winemakers are playing with modern and traditional wine-making techniques to produce a broad range of styles. White wines dominate but rosé, orange and red wines are increasingly common, plus pét-nat and traditional-method sparkling wines. Poles love to come together over food and drinks, and wine festivals have become a popular way to embrace their fast-evolving wine culture. Polish Wine Fest channels that energy with some delightfully daft year-round events: 1980s-themed wine discos, wine and camping parties, and a Pink Splash cruise of Dublin Bay with flowing rosé and a strictly pink dress code. On May 11, they will co-host a Central Europe & Ancient East wine fair in The Fumbally Stables, with over 120 wines from Austria, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. And today's Brut Nature is the welcome fizz for their weekly Polish Wine and Irish Oyster takeover at Blackrock's Sea Shanty until May 28. Wines of the week Barczentewicz Pinot Blanc Beton 2023, Lublin, Poland, 12pc, €29.95 Beton means 'concrete' in Polish, aka the concrete eggs this warm-vintage, cool-climate Pinot Blanc was fermented and aged in for 11 months on the lees. The result is silky, fleshy and subtly complex with clean acidity bringing welcome tension. A great introduction to the talents of Kamil Barczentewicz, who gleaned expertise and confidence from his Bordeaux oenology and viticulture studies and globe-trotting winery stages. Or try his fully dry Gewürztraminer (€35) or layered Riesling (€40). The Wine Pair, The Fumbally, Blackrock Cellar Dom Jantoń Brut Nature NV, Central Poland, 11.5pc, €53 A hybrid grape that thrives in cool-climate England and East Coast USA, Seyval Blanc responds well to lees ageing, as in this bone-dry traditional method sparkler with its green apple, citrus sour and crisp minerality softened by creaminess from 15 months on lees. Dreamy with oysters. Blackrock Cellar, The Wine Pair ADVERTISEMENT Silesian Cuvée Colorée n/v, Lower Silesia, Poland, 12pc, €35 Red wines are tricky in Poland's cool climate so often winemakers blend vintages, using very different approaches in different years. Here, disease-resistant hybrid (PiWi) grapes Rondo, Regent and Cabernet Cortis are well-balanced, soft and juicy with damson and red fruits. Rustic Boowa (Tralee), Searsons Wine Merchants Turnau Solaris 2023, Western Pomerian, Poland, 12.5pc, €40 Solaris is a versatile, disease-resistant (PiWi) hybrid grape that ripens well yet retains generous acidity. A flagship wine from a leading winery, this is lees aged for five months and very well-balanced, offsetting its ripe tropical fruit with lively freshness in an off-dry style. Blackrock Cellar, Barossa Wines Barczentewicz Pinot Noir Dobre Minor 2022, Lublin, Poland, 12pc, €50 Pinot Noir is Poland's most widely grown red grape and Kamil Barczentewicz is deservedly admired for his sensitive, restrained handling of German clones from south-facing limestone slopes. Beautifully balanced with delicate red fruits, floral lift, earthy depth and fine acidity. Blackrock Cellar, The Wine Pair, Barossa Wines
