Orange wine, pét-nat and natural wine: what are they?

Conventional white winemaking separates pressed juice immediately from skins and seeds, giving pale, non-tannic wine. Reds ferment with skins for colour, aroma and tannin.

Orange wine applies the red method to white grapes. Maceration lasts days, weeks or months:

• Colour, deep gold, amber, copper, sometimes almost orange;

• Aroma, dried fruit, apricot, orange peel, honey, tea, herbs and nuts;
• Taste, dry, slightly astringent and tannic like light red;
• Texture, fuller than white.

It contains no oranges or orange additions: grape skins supply colour. Orange wine was coined in the 2000s as the style returned to fashion. Also called amber wine or skin-contact white.

Georgia has made wine in buried qvevri clay jars for millennia. Grapes, skins and sometimes stems ferment and age for months. The method is UNESCO intangible heritage. Classic grapes: Rkatsiteli, Mtsvane, Kisi.

In Europe, industrialisation nearly erased the style in the 20th century. Late-1990s winemakers in Friuli and neighbouring Slovenia revived white maceration, sometimes importing Georgian qvevri. The fashion spread worldwide.

In France:

• Alsace, aromatic, spicy Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Riesling;

• Jura, Savagnin and Chardonnay;
• Roussillon and Languedoc, Grenache Blanc, Macabeu and Muscats;
• Loire, Chenin and Sauvignon;
• Savoie, Jacquère and Roussanne.

Orange wine sits between white and red. If you enjoy characterful dry whites and light reds, you may well like it. If you are used to fresh, fruity whites, the first sip can be surprising: there is astringency, notes of tea and dried fruit, and sometimes a slightly bitter edge.

Aromatic grapes intensify: skin-contact Gewurztraminer smells even more strongly of rose, lychee and spice.

Tannin and acidity make these very food-friendly:

• Georgian food, khachapuri, pkhali, satsivi, pork skewers;

• Middle Eastern and Indian food, spices, chickpeas, aubergine, curry;
• Fermented foods, sauerkraut, kimchi, miso;
• Aged cheeses, Comté, Gruyère, Parmesan;
• Chicken, pork, duck, mushrooms, pumpkin, root vegetables;
• Choucroute, Alsatian orange with an Alsatian dish.

Serve at 12–14 °C, warmer than white: cold strengthens astringency. Use a large red-wine glass; many benefit from twenty to thirty minutes in a decanter.

Pétillant naturel, shortened to pét-nat, uses the oldest sparkling method, méthode ancestrale.

Wine is bottled while still fermenting, under a beer-like crown cap. Fermentation finishes inside, trapping carbon dioxide. Unlike Champagne, no sugar or yeast is added, and sediment often remains.

Character:

• Softer, larger bubbles than Champagne;
• Often cloudy from yeast sediment;
• Lower alcohol, 10–12%;
• Flavour, fresh apples, pears, berries, bread crust, sometimes gentle sweetness or tartness;
• White, rosé or red.

French examples: Limoux, Blanquette méthode ancestrale, whose local legend dates the first sparkling wine to Saint-Hilaire in 1531, before Champagne; Gaillac, méthode gaillacoise; Bugey-Cerdon, slightly sweet rosé near Lyon; Montlouis, pétillant originel; and hundreds of natural producers nationwide.

Opening: chill to 6–8 °C and open over a sink, as the crown cap releases plenty of foam. Keep still for settled sediment, or turn the bottle over for a cloudy style.

Read “Brut: dry or sweet?”.

A movement rather than an official category, with common principles:

1. Organic or biodynamic grapes, hand-picked.
2. Wild yeast from grapes and cellar.
3. No additives, sugar, acid, tannin or aromatic cultured yeast.
4. No filtering or fining, so cloudiness is possible.
5. Sulphur, none or minimal at bottling.

France's 2020 Vin méthode nature charter formalised rules, with logos for no added sulphur or up to 30 mg/l.

Beaujolais played a key role: 1980s scientist-winemaker Jules Chauvet and followers made wines without sulphur or additives. Paris is now a global natural-wine capital, with dedicated bars in every neighbourhood.

Read “Organic and biodynamic wines” for certification.

In Russian, “natural wine” often means genuine grape wine, not powder. A separate question: French AOP and IGP wine comes only from grapes, not powder. The movement's natural wine means minimal intervention and additions. Good conventional wine also uses grapes, with cultured yeast, filtration and sulphur for stability.

Advantages:

• Lively, unusual flavours, fruit and character;
• Expression of grape and place;
• Often small family estates;
• Some claim easier mornings afterwards, without scientific proof.

Drawbacks:

• Instability, differences between bottles;
• Faults, vinegar, mousiness, barnyard;
• Fragility, heat and travel harder without sulphur: keep cool;
• Cloudiness, an unfamiliar look.

A good natural winemaker produces wines that are clean and precise, without faults. If a bottle smells strongly of vinegar or a barnyard, that is a flaw in the wine, rather than an expression of the style.

1. Begin with pét-nat, the most accessible style: fruity, light and cheerful.
2. Orange, short Alsace or Italian maceration before Georgian qvevri.
3. Natural red, juicy fresh Beaujolais.
4. Knowledgeable shops and bars, advising on clean wines.
5. Price, €15–30 in France from good producers.

1. Harvest ripe white grapes, especially ripe skins, avoiding bitterness and green flavours.
2. Crush gently, sometimes retaining stems.
3. Maceration: leave juice, skins and seeds in a tank, barrel, amphora or qvevri. Fermentation starts spontaneously with wild yeast. Winemakers mix the cap of skins as they do for red wine.
4. Time, three to four days for light style, up to six months traditionally in Georgia.
5. Pressing: separate and press the skins, then transfer the wine into vessels for ageing.
6. Age, months or years in barrel, amphora or qvevri, often unfiltered with sediment.

Skin tannins protect against oxidation, allowing little or no sulphur.

A qvevri is a large egg-shaped clay vessel holding anything from several hundred to several thousand litres. It is lined with beeswax on the inside and coated with lime on the outside, then buried up to its neck. Underground, the temperature remains cool and stable, allowing the wine to ferment slowly. In autumn, grapes and their skins are put inside; in spring, the wine is drawn off, clear and amber-coloured, with soft tannins. Qvevri are handmade in a few Georgian villages. Today, winemakers in Italy, France, Austria and even California order them for their own cellars.

Orange, pét-nat and natural wines usually cost €12–30 direct, €15–40 in shops. Famous Friuli and Georgian wines start at €30. Look for small caves, natural-wine bars and spring or autumn fairs in French cities. Ordinary supermarkets carry little.

1. Thinking orange wine uses oranges.
2. Serving icy. It needs 12–14 °C.
3. Mistaking a fault for style.
4. Keeping natural wine warm.
5. Confusing the movement with simply genuine grape wine.

Many Alsace Wine Route producers make skin-contact, additive-free wines; a visit can be added to an Alsace tour. Paris natural-wine bars cluster in Belleville, Oberkampf and the 11th arrondissement. → Alsace food tour · Organic and biodynamic wines · Alsace Wine Route