The concept of orange wine is simple. Through extended skin maceration, in which the juice of the grape has longer contact with the colored skins, the juice takes in some of that color and flavor with it when pressed off. A simple task in theory, but a difficult end product to pull off successfully. Orange wines are more often than not made from white wine grapes (that do not have white skins) and are dry, but the result can be funky and off-putting.
For the small-batch, estate-growing wine team at Vista Hills Vineyard, in Willamette Valley’s Dundee Hills, this was a calculated risk of 80 cases that brings out ripe Pinot Gris in a funky fresh form. The 2013 Treehouse Orange Wine is made from 100 percent, gray-skinned Pinot Gris, the juice is skin-fermented for eight days to “ensure a healthy tannic structure and tremendous color and flavor.” Aromas are booming with fino sherry, almond biscotts, honeyed orange peel, grapefruit and rose petal with a matching palate of citrus, flowers, mandarin and apricot flavors that finish with playful acid and structural tannins.
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