Interesting you opted for the Kisi ! But it’s not really a proper amber wine as it was only macerated for up to 3 weeks and so is a “soft soft” amber style (but maybe better for amber newcomers…) but yes I think it will be delicious for what it is and during my Georgian travels in 2019, we had many-a-delightful Kisi, but they would have been in skin contact throughout fermentation and the over-wintering before racking off in the spring.
Yes, completely agree - it was a very light touch on the ‘amber’ front. It’s the only amber wine I bought from the Society, but remember enjoying it very much - in a peach Lipton Tea thirst-quenching sort of way. As you say, might scare the guests less…
A nice challenge!
Another good CdR option, a little over budget admittedly but good value at five years old Cotes du Rhone Chateau Courac 2018
Agree with Clive about Saint-Chinian, Domaine Raynier 2021
This is even more over budget - sorry - but would be a great wedding wine and a good fit for your ‘easy drinking but interesting to wine geeks’ profile Anselmo Mendes Pardusco, Vinho Verde 2020
I don’t think there is a strict definition of the term, but if green/yellow grapes are fermented on the skins I’d say the wine qualifies to be called amber or orange. And in this case it says “amber wine” on the bottle, in Georgian too, so I think we should defer to the producer.
You are right that maceration times can be anything up to 6 months, but often they are shorter. Maybe a few weeks before racking, and after racking the wine may still be kept in a qvevri for months.
The longer maceration times are traditional in Kakheti, but are not always used even there. And in other parts of Georgia the tradition is for shorter times, and to use only a fraction of the skins.
On a slightly different point, I noticed TWS describe this as “white” in the subject line, and all orange wines are tagged as “White wine”. I reallg think they need an “Orange wine” category in their database.
I think in that respect any white wine made from pale skinned grape but which had some contact with its skin before or during fermentation which affected its colour could be legitimately described as “amber”, moreover the degree of amberness would be affected by those “white” grapes which are not actually white, such as PG and Gewurtz.
My reading of this was, for my money, a “proper” amber wine would be expected to have sufficient tannic elements, those cooked apple and bitter orange rind flavours which would be more likely to arise with the longer skin contact time (and which initially puts the unaware drinker off) and carry a distinctiveness other than effectively just a white wine with a bit of colour - or if you like, a white wine made in a rosé style.
You and I have both had lengthy wine trips to Georgia and I’m sure we are actually on the same page !!
That is your dilemma. Orange wine is mostly unloved in the UK - to the extent that to the unitiated it would be regarded as faulty & undrinkable.
So I’m thinking… Village or Cru Beaujolais instead ? it’s a wedding, everyone loves a good BJL.
Can’t agree more. I was looking for orange / amber wine options for a friend and I gave up on the search after a while.
For my money too actually.
But maybe if amber/orange wine were more common in the UK, I would be looking for more diversity in it. I think connoisseurship of amber/orange wine has a long way to go.