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. This differs 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. It is effectively white wine made as if it were a red, and 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 is distinct 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
• Amber wines can also appear white, yellow or pink, depending on the variety and the process used
• A wine labelled 'orange wine' could be misread as a wine from the Orange GI region or a fruit wine made from oranges, and 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. Amber fermentations are often performed warm and without temperature control, and 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. The first rule of qvevri winemaking is 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, though size matters: 2000L qvevri tend to reach roughly 28 to 30°C during fermentation, against 22 to 24°C for 200L qvevri
• Qvevri wine needs frequent stirring, 4 to 5 times a day, before it has fermented, and 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

Amber wines are typically orange in colour, dry and have noticeable tannin astringency. 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. The result is markedly more intense on the nose and palate than a conventional white, sometimes with significant tannins. Top Georgian qvevri examples typically show quince, candied orange peel and dried apricot, tend to take on a full-on, structured body, and have a chewy, tea-like tannin structure. A white wine kept on its chacha for a long time turns dark straw, golden or tea-coloured.

• In sensory research (Gawel et al. 2013, 2016), 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, and the variety has thick, flavoursome skins
• Amber wines are generally intended to be drunk at room temperature and are often considered 'food wines'

Qvevri winemaking started 8 thousand years ago in Georgia, and the tradition is still preserved today. 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, 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 (Winemaking for Slovenians), 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.

• Discussion of white wines with maceration at the OIV began at Georgia's initiative in 2017, and France, Italy and Slovakia also make orange wines
• Kakheti is the most important Georgian winemaking region, with grapes including Rkatsiteli and Kakhuri Mtsvane
• In Kakheti the total amount of chacha takes part in fermentation, while the Imereti way adds a maximum of one-third of the chacha; Imereti, in central-west Georgia, uses smaller qvevri and generally omits stems, yielding fresher, softer orange wines 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, and its cellar holds amphorae from the Caucasus. Radikon, also in Oslavia, dates its turn to skin-macerated Ribolla to 1995, and by 2002 all its wines macerated for 3 months and no longer needed sulphites. Stanko Radikon (d. 2016) was the father of Saša Radikon, 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.

• 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
• Pheasant's Tears' qvevri are clay vessels lined with beeswax and buried under the ground, and 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 risks most often cited are bitterness and overly astringent tannins, overt oxidation, and spoilage by undesirable yeast or bacteria, so trialling the technique on a small batch first is advisable. pH can rise by up to 0.2 units when white grapes are fermented on skins, and skin contact increases must pH and potassium and decreases 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. As Saša Radikon puts it: '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.' Many orange wine producers are keen on minimal intervention and low sulphur, but this is not a prerequisite for the style.

• 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, Pinot Grigio Sivi and Slatnik, began with Saša in 2009 and, with shorter macerations of about ten days, needs a small addition of SO2
• Varieties high in phenolics and acid can appear harsh and bitter in amber style, and 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 2026-10-04