Taronja de Gris, Orange Wine 2017
- Retail
- £30.00
- Member
- £24.00
- Case
- £180.00
- Case (Member)
- £144.00
- Varieties
- Grenache Gris, Grenache Blanc
- Vintage
- 2017
- Country
- France
- Region
- Roussillon
- Alcohol
- 14.5%
- Bottle Size
- 750ml
- Drinking Window
- 2018 - 2020
- Description
- An 'orange' wine, made by fermenting grapes usually destined for white wine, with their skins (and most of their stalks), the same way we'd make a red wine. This process means that the wine picks up an amber/coppery colour from the skins (Grenache Gris grapes are actually slightly pink), as well as a considerable amount of fresh, peppery tannins.
- Eyes
- The deeply pink coloured Grenache Gris grapes have lent this wine a resonant orange-pink hue.
- Nose
- Eyes closed, and it it is hard to know if you'd place this as a white or a red - the aromas are more delicate and perfumed than a typical red, with notes of rose-hip syrup, ginger and orange peel
- Mouth
- Citrus peel is evident on the palate too, and there's definitely a refreshing tannic grip and a twist of bitterness remniscent of a good negroni. Yet the ripeness and generosity of fruit is what leaves a lasting impression, with rolling waves of flavour that you'd never normally find in a white wine made from these grapes.
- Body
- full
- Winemaking notes
- Essentially, we've made this wine pretty much exactly the same way we make our red wines. We made 4 barrel fermentations - two of them 'whole bunch', one 'carbonic maceration', and the last with de-stemmed grapes. We fermented in open top 500L barrels, and left the skins (and stalks) macerating in the wine for 2 weeks after the fermentation finished. We protected the wine from oxidation and from microbiological contamination with dry ice, and low levels of sulphur. The wine was aged in neutral barriques, and bottled after 8 months in barrel, with no fining and a light filtration
- Growing Conditions
- Parcels of low-yielding, old vine Grenache Gris (and some Grenache Blanc) were left to ripen a little more than normal, and then picked when the flavour development was optimal, and the skins and stems were fully ripe.
Reviews
Joe Czerwinski - Wine Advocate
February 22, 2019
Light amber-coppery wine marked by scents of pear and melon but also some red berries. It's medium to full bodied, with definite tannic grip on the finish but in a soft, silky kind of way, not overtly extracted or tough.
Megan Murray - The Stylist Magazine
https://www.stylist.co.uk/life/recipes/orange-wines-what-is-it-best-to-try/391578May 27, 2020
Best Orange wines to try... Taronja de Gris 2017 “This is the one we use at the bar. Affordable, delicious and French,” says Luke Comer from Mother Mercy Bar.
Tamlyn Currin - Jancisrobinson.com
www.jancisrobinson.comJuly 7, 2019
Heavy, dark green bottle sealed with wax. Fantastically bright label of an explosion of pink, yellow, orange and red. Fantastic colour as well – like blood oranges. And fantastic wine! It smells spicy, deep, of sumac and saffron and pomegranates and rust. And then you take a sip and it’s like one of those huge, bronze Chinese gongs going off in your mouth. Reverberating. Intense. Long, fierce, wild. Red-berried fruit and dried orange peel and the same spices that are on the nose are in the mouth but they’re popping like fireworks so they’re harder to pin down. The tannins are kid gloves on masseuse fingers and there’s even a teeny bite of smoked chilli on the finish. Brilliant. This goes straight on my list of Top 5 Orange Wines. (TC) - 17.5