Orange wine has a distinct color of skin-contact white wine, which can range from highlighter-hue orange to golden amber to soft yellow. However, its name gives a false assumption that it might get prepared from orange or something related to orange. In reality, this wine is neither get prepared from oranges nor orange grapes. This wine prepared from white wine grapes, which still have the skins left on vines even after the fermenting process.
For making this type of wine, ancient ways are always preferable, and it gets prepared in very less quantity that sell out fast. The splendid taste of this wine is due to its possessing method. The acidity and unique texture, i.e., mouthfeel and red tannins combined with the white minerality make the orange wine extremely versatile with food, especially smoky or fatty.
What is Orange Wine?
Orange wine is a different type of white wine(1), which get prepared by dropping the grape peeling and seeds in the juice. It further creates a deep orange-colored product at the end. For making an orange wine, first, take white grapes and mash them up properly. Put the pulverized material in a large vessel, which is usually ceramic or cement. You need to leave the fermenting grapes just like that for the unspecified duration because the duration can vary from four days to a year and the skins and seeds of grapes still present.
The length of this entire process determines its exact shade. For example, for a darker shade of orange, the process should be of long duration. The other factor that contributes to appearance is the type of grapes used in preparing the wine, from warming amber to luminous orange.
Making an orange wine is a very natural process. No additives added in it and even there is no necessity to add any additive, and sometimes there is no addition of yeast too. Due to all this, the taste of orange wine is different as compared to regular white wine. It has a funky taste and varying degree of a sour taste.
How Does It Taste
Orange wines are bold and robust, with honeyed aromas of hazelnut, jack fruit, Brazil nut, wood varnish, bruised apple, juniper, linseed oil, sourdough, and dried orange rind.
More the juice and grapes peeling seeds are in contact, the better the grape peelings will have red wine characteristics. Such as, bolder flavor, more tannin, and more significant body, and it still maintains the high acidity, which is unique to white grapes.
Any type of white wine grape is useful for the preparation of the orange wine. The flavor, aroma, texture, as well as body of orange wine, vary tremendously. It is the reason the style of this wine loved by everyone so quickly.
Orange wine more closely resembles red wine, and it has more richness, edge, and earthy-sour taste. You might get a taste of nutmeg, apricot, even mushrooms or apple cider in your wine glass. The more complex flavor in orange wine is perfect for those who are ready to explore something less than sipping as compared to rose. There are various opportunity to taste, smell, and learn the orange wine’s entire spectrum to figure out which type of wine is appropriate for you.
Potential Benefits of Orange Wine
[Read: Grape Juice Benefits]
Only a few studies have described the potential health benefits of orange wine. Few of them are the following:
1. Provides Antioxidants
Antioxidants are a type of molecules. It helps in neutralizing the particles known as free radicals. These are unstable molecules that are capable of causing cellular damage when the levels of free radicals become too high in the body. Cellular damage can increase the risk of chronic health conditions, such as cancer and heart disease.
Orange wine contains more antioxidants(2) as compared to white wine. The reason behind more antioxidants is that orange wine gets prepared by fermenting white grape juice along with the white grape’s peeling and seeds. This entire process allows its antioxidants to seep into the orange wine.
2. May Reduce the Risk of Heart Disease
Various researchers describe that drinking wine is beneficial because it lowers the risk of heart disease. This health benefit is likely because of its alcohol as well as polyphenol contents. Orange wine has high polyphenols as compared to white wine. So, drinking the orange wine can likely provide you with the same heart health benefits, which you get after drinking red wine.
3. May Avoid Metabolic Syndrome
A metabolic syndrome is a group of health conditions, which can increase the risk of stroke, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Wine drinker has a lower risk of metabolic syndrome compared to people who do not drink or drink occasionally.
The other potential benefits of orange wine are the following:
- May reduce the risk of cancer
- May improve the blood sugar control
- May increase lifespan
Orange wine is a different form of white wine that gets prepared with a similar process of red wine. Due to its preparation process, it consists of more beneficial plant compounds as compared to other white wines. The potential benefits of orange wine are reducing the risk of heart, decreasing mental decline, and metabolic syndrome. In case you already consume white wine, then you need to consider the option of switching to orange wine because it is much healthier. However, if you are not drinking any alcohol, don’t start it just for the health benefits it has to offer. Opt for better ways to stay healthy like proper diet, exercise, and more.
