Results of the 2021 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (The Nationals)
Orange Wine
Category Overview by Judge Treve Ring
Is orange the new Rosé? Orange wines certainly are arcing upwards, just as rosé wines have over the past decade. You’ve no doubt heard about orange wine, and most likely tried some of these characterful wines yourself. But do you know what you’re drinking, or why the colourful name (no – they’re not from the fruit wine category)?
(Jump straight to the medal winners.)
First off, it’s not the hue, which really is more amber, and ranges from pale yellow gold to deeper bronze. It’s the process. Orange wines are white wines made like red wines. The juice is fermented with the skins, leaving them in contact from a week up through a year. This gives the wine its characteristic hue, but also a fuller body, higher phenolic content and more tannins and grip on the palate. A better (though less catchy colourful) name would be “skin contact whites”.
An ancient winemaking technique, these wines are common from areas with lengthy winemaking traditions like Georgia, Slovenia, Croatia and eastern Italy, though are also found from naturalist winemakers around the globe, including Canada. Befitting tradition, few, if any, additives are often used, and alternative vessels like amphora and concrete are usually engaged, making orange wines highly prevalent amongst the natural wine set.
This year’s NWAC medalists were overwhelmingly Ontarian, though there are some BC wines striking Gold. Reflecting the prevalence of Pinot Gris plantings, and the grape’s suitability for skin contact wines, the majority of medalists are Gris based, though there is a spectrum of other grapes on the podium (Riesling, Muscat, Gewürztraminer…) this year. The best wines are light, edgy, and grippy, holding onto acidity while balancing texture, and luring with savoury citrus and saline notes. Their adventuresome umami-like make up encourages pairing with similar foods: think Moroccan, Ethiopian, Persian, and Japanese flavour families.
Maverick 2020 Amber Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Plot 2020 Orange No.2, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Marynissen 2020 Heritage Collection Pinot Gris, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Rocky Creek 2020 Pinot Gris, Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Tawse 2020 Skin Fermented Pinot Gris, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Waupoos Estates 2019 Geisenheim 318, Prince Edward County, Ontario
13th Street 2020 Maximum Intervention Riesling, Creek Shores, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Arancia 2019 Skin Fermented Chardonnay, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Arancia 2019 Skin Fermented Gewürztraminer, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Arancia 2019 Skin Fermented Muscat, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Arancia 2019 Skin Fermented Pinot Gris, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Arancia 2019 Skin Fermented Vidal, Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Arrowleaf 2020 Skin Fermented Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Organized Crime 2020 Sacrilege, Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Plot 2020 Haze, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Redstone 2020 Skin Fermented Pinot Gris, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
