Adventurous winemakers and wine lovers are increasingly exploring “orange wines”—i.e., wines made from white varieties that pick up color (and tannins) from extended maceration of the freshly crushed juice on the grape skins (think Gravner, Radikon, Edi Kante, Wind Gap, Scholium Project, etc.). Do you use these wines in your program? If not, why not? If you do, how do you pair them with food, and what are your favorite producers and bottlings?
Jake Kosseff, Company Wine Director, Wild Ginger (Seattle). At Wild Ginger we love orange wines: the complexity and depth that extended skin contact provides for whites is often a treat. But they aren’t always a perfect fit for our restaurant, so we are very careful in our choices. Many of these wines also have pronounced oxidative character (i.e., nutty, caramelly, even occasionally volatile or vinegary notes) that aren’t delicious with the clean, bright flavors that are the building blocks of Southeast Asian cuisine. We have had some great luck in Friuli in Italy, and just over the border in Gorska Brda in Slovenia. Usually it’s a matter of choosing wine by wine (even vintage by vintage) rather than by producer. When we do have this type of wine on our list, we pair it with dishes that have rich, straightforward flavors, rather than dishes that have lots of vinegar, spice or fruitiness. READ MORE »
