Campania’s Orange Wine: ancient tradition becoming innovation. Our Campanian par excellence Antonella Amodio tells us about it.
Orange wine is the English locution, which has now entered our lexicon as well, referring to macerated white wines made by the technique involving the prolonged contact between the must and the skins (usually reserved for the vinification of red wines), transferring unusual shades of color to the wine that veer toward orange defined as the “fourth color” of wine. Their complex structure, both on the nose and palate, is a characteristic that allows for long aging.
Orange wine, in a landscape of wine styles and settings, is more than just a trend: it is a journey through time that combines the legacy of ancient Georgian and peasant techniques with the innovations of the contemporary winemaking world. An ancestral method, capable of transforming white grapes into complex and original wines that break through the palates of wine lovers and consumers.
A return to roots and origins in Georgia
It all starts in Georgia 8,000 years ago, using winemaking techniques based on macerating the musts in contact with the skins and ending with the wine left in qvevri, the buried and hermetically sealed earthenware amphorae, often covered with wax, that allow slow fermentation protected from oxidation. These ancient techniques are Heritage of the ‘UNESCO World Heritage Site, with qvevri over 250 years old still in use.
The rediscovery of orange wines in the West occurred at the turn of the second millennium, thanks to the innovation of some Friulian producers of the Gorizia Collio area on the border with Slovenia. Pioneers such as Joško Gravner and Stanko Radikon, in Oslavia, have reinterpreted these ancient practices, enhancing Ribolla, the area’s main grape variety, inspiring numerous winemakers and enriching the Italian wine scene with diverse styles.
Orange Wine lands in Campania
A technique that draws on an ancient peasant tradition, as mentioned. In the past, the skins were not immediately separated from the must, but were left to transfer body, color and aromatic substances to the wine. This practice is still used today in different geographical areas of the world, not only in Georgia. In Italy it is used in several regions, and Campania has a representation of producers who produce orange wine with excellent results, using grapes Fiano, Greco, Falanghina, Biancolella, Coda di Volpe and many other varieties also obtained from organic and biodynamic farming.
Beneventano Greco Ambrato di Montemalo 2023 Rossovermiglio
Score: 93/100
Approximate price in wine shop: 15 € Q/P
100% Greco. Oak casks for 2 months. Intense yellow tending to amber. Aromas of apricot and peach. Secondarily honey and almond. Fresh, broad and very persistent.
Colli di Salerno Bianco Fuori Linea 2022 Lunarossa Vini
Score: 93/100
Approximate price in wine shop: €28
50% Moscato, 50% Fiano. 50% barrique, 25% amphora and 25% vitrified cement for a total of 24 months. Golden yellow with orange nuances. Olfactory impact of yellow-fleshed fruit and spices. On the palate there is acidity, amplitude and complexity of taste.
Campania Fiano Orange 2023 Case D’Alto
Score: 92/100
Approximate price in wine shop: 16 € Q/P
100% Fiano. Stainless steel. Orange-yellow with copper highlights. Aromas of lime, citrus and chamomile. Fresh and saline on the palate.
Roccamonfina Zagreo 2020 I Cacciagalli
Score: 93/100
Approximate price in wine shop: €26
100% Fiano. Vinification and maceration in amphora. Coppery golden yellow. Nose of quince, pineapple and smoky note. Mouth wide, brackish and very persistent.
Paestum Bianco Iscadoro 2021 Casebianche
Score: 92/100
Approximate price in wine shop: €23
40% Malvasia, 30% Fiano, 30% Trebbiano. Ages 70% in steel and 30% in oak barrels for about 8 months. Deep golden yellow. Nose of tropical fruit hints of Mediterranean scrub. The sip is broad, saline and with a long iodine finish.
Campania Fiano Sancho Panza 2020 Il Tufiello
Score: 93/100
Approximate price in wine shop: €26
100% Fiano. Stainless steel. Unfiltered. Deep golden yellow with slight suspensions. Olfactory tones of humus, walnuts and blood orange. Plump and meaty on the palate, supported by savoriness and freshness.
Campania Coda di Volpe Quarta Generazione 2022 La Cantina di Enza
Score: 93/100
Approximate price in wine shop: 17 € Q/P
100% Foxtail. Stainless steel. Deep amber. Aromas of chestnut, smoky and herbs. Broad in the mouth, brackish and persistent.
Roccamonfina La Monade 2021 Enoz – Masseria Torricella
Score: 93/100
Approximate price in wine shop: €20
100% Fiano. Amphora for 6 months. Stamp the active broom and hawthorn. Fruit and pine needles emerge in the second line. Nimble, fresh and very persistent sip.
Beneventano Riecu 2022 Giovanni Iannucci
Score: 93/100
Approximate price in wine shop: 15 € Q/P 9
100% Trebbiano. Stainless steel. Golden yellow with amber nuances. Aromas of hay, almond and passion fruit. Fresh, broad and savory sip. Very persistent.
Campania Greco Sophia 2021 Cantina Giardino
Score: 92/100
Approximate price in wine shop: €30
100% Greco. 10 months amphora and 6 months in oak barrels. Intense amber yellow. Ample aromas of iodine, resin, acacia honey and peach in syrup. On the palate it is broad, savory and with a slight tannic sensation.
