Don’t Underestimate Orange Wines

Argentina’s top export markets—which include the U.S.—could see an influx of orange wines soon, as some of the country’s top producers get ready to launch new skin-contact varieties. “Orange wine is a niche market, but a growing one,” Phil Crozier, ambassador for Wines of Argentina, told The Drinks Business. “[The wines are] absolutely stupendous, and coming soon.” Local wine aficionado Jack Brogan, for one, is excited. A wine associate at Denver’s Mondo Vino, Brogan says most wine drinkers gravitate toward Old World selections when it comes to orange wine, but “there are so many slept-on [Argentinian] growers that are doing really cool and really unique stuff….For me, orange wines represent an important movement in wine that draws on ancient technique with modern sensibilities. Producers who are making orange wines are trying to create something unique to their land, their grapes, and their personalities….[The wines are] incredibly alive.”

Jack Brogan’s orange wine recommendation: “I really like the new vintage of the Dharma Orange. It’s 80 percent Pedro Giménez and eight months of skin contact, but somehow this wine is still elegant, light on its feet, and incredibly bright.”

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