Orange wines have become trendy over the last 15 years, but they are actually a tribute to wines made in ancient times – thousands of years ago in the birthplace of wine, the fertile valleys of the South Caucasus (present-day Georgia and Armenia), when winemakers used to dump their grapes in a qvevri (a large clay vessel buried in the ground to keep the wine cool), where they were left to ferment, stabilise and clarify naturally.

Many orange wines are considered ‘natural wines’ – because they are made with the yeasts carried on the grape skins and with techniques often described as ‘low intervention’ or ‘zero manipulation’. It means the winemakers make no additions, apart from a little S02 to prevent the wines from oxidising. These ‘natural wines’ are usually bottled without filtration – so you may find some deposits at the bottom of the bottle, as you do with some red wines.

Chris Boiling, wine writer and latterly wine maker, first tasted orange wine made by a long-bearded monk from Georgia. By his own admission, it was disgusting. ‘Natural’ but in a faulty kind of way. However, since then, Chris has tasted many amazing orange wines and this style has become his favourite.

So much so that he went to three very different countries in 2022 to make three different styles of amber wines - his Crazy Experimental range. In the Alazani Valley – in the heart of Georgia’s primary wine-growing region, Kakheti – Chris harvested two rare indigenous grape varieties, Kisi and Khikhvi, and put them together in a qvevri, keeping the skins in contact with the wine for six months. The wine was then racked off the skins and stored in a clean qvevri for a further four months.  The result is a highly approachable orange wine with notes of nectarines, dried apricots, and walnuts.

A great food wine which goes well with hard cheeses, roast meats, or stuffed breads.