Skin Contact White Wine / Orange Wine

Skin contact white wine, commonly called orange or amber wine, is made from white grapes using techniques traditionally used for red winemaking: fermentation on skins, seeds and sometimes stems, which can include extended skin contact after fermentation, according to the AWRI. The AWRI separates this from pre-fermentation skin contact, where white grape juice is left on its skins for a period before fermentation but then pressed and fermented off the skins. Simon Woolf, writing in Decanter, calls it effectively white wine made as if it were a red, and notes that the colour comes from the skins, not from oxidation. The term 'orange wine', coined in 2004, is increasingly used for these wines; Georgian examples are called orange or amber wine, and 'ramato', from the Italian word for copper, names a related historical skin-contact Pinot Grigio style from Friuli-Venezia Giulia that Decanter distinguishes from orange wine.

• The OIV's 2020 definition of white wine with maceration requires white grape varieties only, maceration in contact with grape pomace, and a maceration phase of at least 1 month
• The AWRI notes that amber wines can also appear white, yellow or pink, depending on the variety and the process used
• The AWRI cautions that a wine labelled 'orange wine' could be misread as a wine from the Orange GI region or a fruit wine made from oranges, and that some producers have begun using 'amber wine' instead

Skin contact aims to increase the extraction of aroma and phenolic compounds from the skins, seeds and any stems, to optimise tannin structure, texture and mouthfeel and add savoury complexity, and amber winemaking typically extracts more phenolics than pre-fermentation skin contact, according to the AWRI. Amber fermentations are often performed warm and without temperature control, and the AWRI's skin contact guidance notes that temperature has a major influence on the rate and nature of extraction. In the traditional Georgian Kakhetian method, crushed grapes including skins, seeds, and sometimes stems are poured into a buried qvevri, stirred daily during fermentation, then sealed and left to macerate through the winter before being drawn off in spring. Georgia's National Wine Agency describes the first rule of qvevri winemaking as keeping the wine in the qvevri on its chacha (grape skins and pips) both during and after alcoholic fermentation; in Kakheti the total amount of chacha takes part in fermentation, and white wines are kept on the chacha until spring.

• Qvevri are buried underground to maintain a constant temperature, according to Decanter, though winemaker Giorgi Dakishvili told Decanter that 2000L qvevri reach roughly 28 to 30°C during fermentation, against 22 to 24°C for 200L qvevri
• Georgia's National Wine Agency says qvevri wine needs frequent stirring, 4 to 5 times a day, before it has fermented, and that the pips, chacha and husks sink to the bottom at the end of fermentation
• Radikon's current range runs from 2 to 4 days on the skins for its POP line to 2 to 3 months for its Ribolla and Jakot, according to the estate

Amber wines are typically orange in colour, dry and have noticeable tannin astringency, according to the AWRI. Because white grapes contain lower concentrations of anthocyanins than red grapes, extracted tannin is less likely to be retained than in red wines, so amber wines have some tannin astringency but are mostly less astringent than reds. Woolf describes the result in Decanter as markedly more intense on the nose and palate than a conventional white, sometimes with significant tannins. Decanter describes top Georgian qvevri examples as showing quince, candied orange peel and dried apricot, with a full, structured body and a chewy, tea-like tannin structure. Georgia's National Wine Agency says a white wine kept on its chacha for a long time turns dark straw, golden or tea-coloured.

• Research cited by the AWRI (Gawel et al. 2013, 2016) found that higher-pH white wines were perceived as less astringent and high-alcohol wines as more bitter, while actual phenolic concentration was far less important to perceived bitterness
• Ribolla Gialla's colour can become amber when macerated for long periods, as is typical of the Oslavia area, according to the Consorzio Tutela Vini Collio; Woolf credits the variety's thick, flavoursome skins in Decanter
• The AWRI describes amber wines as generally intended to be drunk at room temperature and often considered 'food wines'

Georgia's National Wine Agency states that qvevri winemaking started 8 thousand years ago in Georgia and that the tradition is still preserved today. The OIV notes that in 2017 the Guinness Book of Records recognised traces of wine on items excavated at Gadachrili Gora and Shulaveris Gora as the oldest wine in the world (6000-5800 BC). In Friuli and neighbouring Slovenian Brda, Woolf writes in Decanter, maceration of white grapes is as old as the Collio hills: in 1844 the priest Matija Vertovec recommended skin macerations of 24 hours to 30 days in his manual Vinoreja za Slovence, but the method was largely forgotten as wineries industrialised in the 1970s. In 1995 Stanko Radikon of Oslavia turned to lengthy skin contact for his Ribolla Gialla, as his grandfather had used, and Josko Gravner, another established Oslavia producer, visited Georgia in 2000 and switched entirely to qvevri in 2001. The term 'orange wine' was coined in 2004 by David Harvey of UK wine importer Raeburn Fine Wines while he was working in Frank Cornelissen's cellar on Etna, according to Woolf.

• The OIV began discussing white wines with maceration at Georgia's initiative in 2017, and notes that France, Italy and Slovakia also make orange wines
• Georgia's National Wine Agency calls Kakheti the most important Georgian winemaking region, with grapes including Rkatsiteli and Kakhuri Mtsvane
• The Imeretian method, practised in western Georgia, adds at most one-third of the chacha rather than the full amount used in the Kakhetian method, according to Georgia's National Wine Agency; Decanter describes Imereti's orange wines, made in smaller qvevri and generally without stems, as fresher and softer, with a lighter touch

Gravner is based in Oslavia, a small frazione of Gorizia in the Collio hills (Brda in Slovenian) on the border with Slovenia; the estate covers 32 hectares in total, of which 15 are currently planted to vine, according to its own site, where Josko Gravner describes a cellar holding amphorae from the Caucasus. Radikon, also in Oslavia, dates its turn to skin-macerated Ribolla to 1995, and by 2002, according to the estate, all its wines macerated for 3 months and no longer needed sulphites. Stanko Radikon (d. 2016) was the father of Saša Radikon, whom Decanter describes as winemaker at his family's estate; the estate's 'S' line, Pinot Grigio Sivi and Slatnik, began with Saša in 2009. In Georgia, Pheasant's Tears ferments and ages all its wines in qvevri, adds the ripest stems to the skins, juice and pits for both reds and whites, and macerates for between 3 weeks and 6 months depending on the variety and the size of the qvevri, according to its own site.

• Woolf wrote in Decanter that Gravner and Radikon release their signature wines at seven years old
• Radikon split its 2001 production for comparison, bottling half without added SO2 and half with the usual minimum, according to the estate
• Pheasant's Tears says its qvevri are clay vessels lined with beeswax and buried under the ground, and that some date back to the mid-19th century

Extended skin contact in white wine can cause large changes in chemical composition and sensory character; the AWRI lists the most commonly reported risks as bitterness and overly astringent tannins, overt oxidation, and spoilage by undesirable yeast or bacteria, and advises trialling the technique on a small batch first. The AWRI says pH can rise by up to 0.2 units when white grapes are fermented on skins, and its skin contact guidance records increases in must pH and potassium and decreases in titratable acidity; where juice pH and potassium are already high, precipitation of potassium bitartrate can push pH higher still. Phenolic under-ripeness can add bitterness and astringency, while overripe fruit and high pH can make amber wines seem broad and 'blousy'. Amber wines can be made with or without sulfur dioxide added to the finished wine, and some winemakers choose natural yeasts, according to the AWRI. Saša Radikon told Decanter: 'For me, a proper orange wine must be fermented with wild yeasts and without temperature control, otherwise you're muting the very characteristics you want to extract from the skins.' Woolf adds that many orange wine producers are keen on minimal intervention and low sulphur, but that this is not a prerequisite for the style.

• Woolf notes in Decanter that although the winemaking style is often oxidative, with open-top oak or plastic fermenters popular, producers typically seal vessels after fermentation to keep the wines fresh
• Radikon's 'S' line, with shorter macerations of about ten days, needs a small addition of SO2, according to the estate
• The AWRI notes that varieties high in phenolics and acid can appear harsh and bitter in amber style, and that some winemakers hyperoxidise juice to decrease phenolics

Primary sources (the OIV, Georgia's National Wine Agency, the Australian Wine Research Institute, the Consorzio Tutela Vini Collio, and Radikon, Gravner and Pheasant's Tears for their own winemaking): https://www.oiv.int/standards/white-wine-with-maceration, https://www.oiv.int/white-wine-with-maceration-interview-with-the-georgian-minister-for-agriculture, https://wine.gov.ge/En/KvevriWine, https://wine.gov.ge/En/WineMakingRegions, https://www.awri.com.au/industry_support/winemaking_resources/winemaking-practices/winemaking-treatment-amber-wine/, https://www.awri.com.au/industry_support/winemaking_resources/winemaking-practices/winemaking-treatment-skin-contact/, https://www.collio.it/en/vino/ribolla-gialla/, https://www.radikon.it/en/history/, https://www.radikon.it/en/vini/, https://www.pheasantstears.com/winw-vineyard, https://www.gravner.it/en/. Secondary: https://www.decanter.com/features/orange-wines-it-s-time-to-get-in-touch-245524/, https://www.decanter.com/learn/what-is-orange-wine-ask-decanter-431608/, https://www.decanter.com/learn/ramato-wine-ask-decanter-426324/, https://www.decanter.com/wine/from-qvevri-to-glass-the-fascinating-journey-of-georgian-orange-wine-570301/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews-tastings/qvevri-wines-from-georgia-a-winemaking-story-and-12-wines-to-try-498954/. Last verified 2026-09-29