2021 Racina Ambra, Skin Fermented Gewurztraminer Viognier, White Wine

Back by popular demand is our second ever Skin Fermented White, as style of wine also known as Orange Wine. This wine offers a unique sensory experience as it still has all the freshness you’d expect from a traditional white wine, but with the added body and intensity from skin contact fermentation. The aromas are both fresh and complex, with mandarin orange, apricot, lychee, orange rind, honey, and candied citrus. On the palate, the wine is very distinctive, offering medium levels of tannins which is very uncommon for a white wine. These tannins add a very pleasant bitterness that is nicely contrasted against the wine’s crisp backbone of acidity.

2021 was a challenging vintage with rain throughout the harvest season. Although challenging it was not without its highlights. One key benefit of the harvest was the higher acidity in the fruit. This enabled our winemakers us to produce crisp aromatic whites and rose with soft fruit characters.

Technical Details

Appellation: VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake

Blend: 60% Gewurztraminer, 40% Viognier

Alcohol: 12.5%

Residual Sugar: 2.2g/L

What is Skin Fermented White Wine, and why is it called Orange Wine?

Orange wine, also known as skin-contact white wine, skin-fermented white wine, or amber wine, is a type of wine made from white wine grapes where the grape skins are not removed, as in typical white wine production, and stay in contact with the juice for days or even months. This contrasts with conventional white wine production, which involves crushing the grapes and quickly moving the juice off the skins into the fermentation vessel. The skins contain color pigment, phenols and tannins that would normally be considered undesirable for white wines, but in orange wines are desired to alter the flavour, colour and structure of the wine.