© Herbert Lehmann/Cephas

Stanko Radikon, a Friulan winemaker, is credited with the revival of interest in orange wine.

Confused about what orange wine is and what it tastes like? Fear not, Mike Bennie is here to explain everything.

So what is the big deal about orange wine?

Although the category of orange wines might be a drop in the ocean in the scheme of international wine production, its increasing popularity – and media coverage – commits the wines to further scrutiny. Often seen as a genre for the fancy-haired sommelier set, bearded fixed-gear bike riders and a clique of left-field wine writers, there's a lot more to the orange wine genus.

As debate abounds so do misunderstandings about the wine style. Are the wines made from orange peels or orange juice? No. Produced from the New South Wales wine region of Orange? No. Orange wine is natural wine? No, though many proponents of the style might fall into the natural wine category. These are just some of the common misconceptions.

So what are orange wines?

Orange wines are white wines made like red wines. The simple definition of the style has white wines left to macerate on their skins for longer periods of time than usual, anywhere from a few days to in some cases, months. While this might produce some raised eyebrows, guffaws and the odd sideways glance, the resulting wines can be compelling and complex. Not to mention downright delicious.

Extended maceration affects and enhances aspects of texture and flavour in resulting orange wines. In the booklet on Georgian wine, Skin Contact by Alice Feiring, the New York-based wine writer who focuses on natural wines writes of orange wines: "the skin contact is what gives them strength, backbone, tannin, color and stability".

Orange wines are often placed under the natural wine umbrella of wine making, but the production of orange wine can be universally applied to all winemakers and any white-grape source – orange wines are defined by the technique of the winemaking and, in theory, could be equally made by Casella of Yellow Tail fame as they could by a bearded, unwashed Loire Valley indie winemaker.

Why drink an orange wine?

Orange wines are compelling for a number of reasons, ranging from fascinating explorations of terroir through to novelty factor and, for many, for being compatible with a broad range of food styles.

Orange wines range in color from pale gold through to deep ambers and in some cases ruddier, rouge-tinted hues – sometimes they are even named "amber" rather than "orange". Taste-wise, the wines may show similar texture to red wines, with tannin, depth of flavor and texture often pronounced. Savoriness can be a by-product of extended white-grape skin maceration, and in some cases oxidative characters are found. That being said, many orange wines are made reductively or without increased exposure to oxygen.

Banjo Harris Plane, named Australia's best sommelier in 2014 and general manager of Australia's most highly acclaimed restaurant, Attica, says: "They have tannin, which gives the wines structure. Tannins and food go together. Tannins work like acidity – they clean the palate of fat and prepare it for the next flavor. Introducing tannic structure to a white wine of already high-ish acidity makes it not only incredibly complex, but supremely versatile in a gastronomic setting."

Sophie Barrett, of California-based wine distributors Selection Massale, speaks specifically of her experience with Savoie wine producer, Jean-Yves Peron: "Jean-Yves Peron is a total badass, I was blown away by the complexity that skin contact brings to those Alpine varieties he makes. Jean-Yves studied in Bordeaux and he's a natural winemaker. He likes structure in the context of natural wine, and you really taste that in his orange wines."

© Fama.eu; Domaine Georgia

Both Slovenia (L) and Georgia have a tradition of using long skin maceration for whites, often in amphorae, called qvevri in Georgia.

Are they a fad?

Orange wine history dates back to traditional winemaking, as evidenced in the Republic of Georgia. In a process dating back some 5000 years, Georgian winemakers have placed grapes in large vessels, usually clay amphorae called "qvevri", sealed them off and left the grapes to ferment. So, no they are not a fad – it is conventional, clear white wines that seem to be a more modern invention, with a more recent history.

Where are orange wines being produced today?

There has been an almost urgent-feeling proliferation of orange wines among avant-garde winemakers, reactionary in some respects to the relative successes of wine producers from Friuli in northeast Italy in particular.

Traditionally, the wines of Friuli, Slovenia (just over the border) and Georgia have led the way for orange wine producers, but the style is seen across a breadth of international wine regions, albeit in relatively small volume. There are practitioners in the Loire Valley, Savoie, Languedoc-Roussillon and Jura in France. And in the New World there are winemakers from California's new guard to South Africa's independent coalition of winemakers in Swartland, with most other wine regions having a couple of producers also playing around with the style. It's an increasingly broad church for orange wines.

Do orange wines negate terroir?

Friulian winemaker Sasa Radikon is the son of the high-profile revivalist of traditional orange winemaking, Stanko Radikon. "My father brought back this technique for a number of reasons, but mostly because he believes that you cannot have the whole picture of the grape, our vineyards and the season, when you discard the skins from the white grapes in our wines."

Radikon explains that his father believes that the skins of white grapes, often immediately pressed or crushed and then discarded, better reflect the growing season. "We don’t do this discarding of skins for the red grapes, so why do we do this for white? Red grape skins are allowed to show more identity in pigment of the skin, tannin profile and elements of texture," says Radikon.

So who do we look out for?

Prominent names in the orange wine world include northeast Italian producers like Radikon, Gravner, Vodopivec, Princic, Kante and Bressan, and in Sicily, COS is a classic. In Slovenia is Movia, and from Georgia you can find popular producers like Pheasant's Tears and Alaverdi releasing ultra-traditional orange wines. Notable French producers include Savoie's Domaine Jean-Yves Peron and Languedoc's La Sorga, while from Austria an emerging genre of orange wine producers includes Strohmeier and Werlitsch.

In Australia, part of the newer breed of orange wine producers includes Lucy Margaux, Shobbrook, Si Vintners and Patrick Sullivan. Even the doyenne of Margaret River, Vanya Cullen of Cullen wines, has released an orange wine.

South Africa, particularly Swartland, sees AA Badenhorst, Sadie Family Wines, Intellego and Lammershoek producing orange wines, while in the United States a fresh representation of California wineries making orange wine includes Pax Mahle, Wind Gap, Salinia, and Scholium Project. A To Z Wines in Oregon has produced orange wine, and the crew from Channing Daughters on Long Island has several under their belt too.

© Wine-Searcher

Limited appeal?

Often produced in small volumes, by small producers, orange wines aren't exactly rocketing through the mainstream. That said, some high-profile sommeliers and wine merchants have embraced orange wines within a broader repertoire of wine, and many upmarket restaurants, bars and wine stores are introducing orange wine subheadings or sections in their listings.

Needless to say, most orange wines are rare and can be expensive, but the expense is justified for the subtle-to-overt depth and complexity they offer. Pronounced tannin and phenolic profile can be a foil for a range of cuisines with different textures, and they can be challenging too. Depth of flavor can also be intriguing, or a potentially overwhelming character in an orange wine, as less-obvious fruitiness is subdued by richness of texture, and more savory, nutty, honeyed, cidery accents.

That being said, Justin Chearno of New York-based distributor Zev Rovine Selections says: "I like to drink orange wines with spicy foods as well as with things that are classically difficult pairings. You get the benefit of [the] acidity of white wine, but with the richer texture of red. They are perfect over multiple courses – truly democratic wine."

Mike's original orange wines for newbies:

Prices worldwide on Wine-Searcher (US$, ex-tax, per 750-ml bottle):