A skin-contact Malvasia from the organic terraced vineyards of Truške in Slovenian Istria, just a few kilometres from the Adriatic. Half of the grapes ferment on the skins for a few days in stainless steel and age in large acacia barrels, the other half macerates for around three weeks in open vats and matures in used French barriques. The wine is golden-amber in color. On the nose, we sense white flowers, ripe peach and baked apples, with a gentle musky note. The taste is structured and complex, with only a light tannic grip, lively acidity and a long, focused finish. A great match for truffle pasta, calamari, roast poultry with rosemary, pork or veal.
Country of origin: Slovenia
Region: Istria
Varietal: 100% Malvasia Istriana
Alcohol volume: 14%
Wine style: Dry white/orange
Closure: Cork
Brand: Rodica
Size: 750mL
Current vintage: 2019
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 colour pigment, phenols and tannins that would normally be considered undesirable for white wines, while for red wines skin contact and maceration is a vital part of the winemaking process that gives red wine its color, flavor, and texture.
MACERATION
Maceration is the winemaking process where tannins coloring agents and flavor compounds—are leached from the grape skins, seeds and stems into the must. To macerate is to soften by soaking, and maceration is the process by which the red wine receives its red color, since raw grape juice is clear-grayish in color.