Cellaring Orange Wine

Curious what people think about the longevity of orange wines. Can’t figure if the added structure would give them longer life or if they’d end up oxidized faster or what. Anyone collect Gravner or the like?

You can’t generalise more than red or white.

IMHO.

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True. dumb question.

We ordered a 2010 joly coulee de serrant at a restaurant recently and it was way more of an orange wine than I’d expected. I’d never heard that they were orange wines at all. It kept a great balance of savennieres qualities with the orangeyness. Guess I’m curious if the same wine in 10 more years would shed its varietal character or its :tangerine: :tangerine: ness or how you’d call a peak age on something like that. Maybe still a dumb question?

Never a dumb question.

But orange does not equal oxidised.

The oldest wine we have in our shop is a 2013 Radikon. It’s a stunner and only getting better.

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Buy a handful or so and find out. If they work beautifully, then you’re a genius.

On it. Will bump this thread in 2041.

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Many Savennieres turn coppery as they age - some even surprisingly young. However, they are not orange wines but instead classic white wines. Joly doesn’t make any orange wines.

Orange wine means that the wine is macerated with the grape skins - the term might be confusing as some orange wines can be pale yellow in color, whereas some aged white wines can be surprisingly orange in color. However, white wine does not turn into an orange wine as it ages, even if its color might turn quite orange.

Re: aging potential - the 1995 Gravner I tasted was completely shot and fully oxidized, but for example 1998 Radikon, 2003 Skerk, 2004 Terpin, 2007 Princic and 2009 Dubokovic wines I’ve tasted have all been stunning. So yes, they do keep, gain complexity, resolve their structure and don’t suddenly oxidize as they age. Just like red wines, not all wines are built to age, but those that are, do reward cellaring.

Thanks for clarifying on the Joly! Checked it on CT and it turns out a lot of people were surprised by the color of the 10s. Good to hear about the Radikons too. They seem to be multiplying at our local retailers lately. Will pick some up!

FWIW I thought it a good question taken as a general one, inviting observations and thoughts.

Good in the sense that I struggle to decide myself, it’s a different style to wines I’ve more usually experienced. Given that we may find a wine as orange AND natural / low SO2 / etc. I find it extremely challenging to even give a *short/medium/long suggestion for ageing potential. I probably end up too cautious.

  • I tend to aim for this very simple mindset when I encounter a grape / style I’ve not experienced before. Where I do have relevant experience I might be more confident picking from broad age ranges (stealing the approach used by Jeremy Oliver in Australia)

Many seem to have the legs for it. My own Marsanne from 2018 was a wine you could keep open in fridge for 5 days straight, and it just improved. Which would suggest it can take a laying down in the cellar for a good time.