As skin contact wines surge in popularity in bars and on supermarket shelves around the world, the term “orange” is blurring the line between an ancient winemaking technique and one of Australia’s most exciting wine regions.
I am going to be controversial here - orange is not a style of wine, it is a wine region.
Calling a wine ‘orange’ is not only confusing, it is lazy and misleading.
And to set the record straight, I have nothing against skin contact (or ‘orange’) wine, in fact one of my favourite Pinot Gris (coincidently from Orange, the wine region) is a skin contact wine - I actively seek out the style at wine bars, the winemaking process fascinates me, and the wines are delicious.
But being a passionate, (even if unofficial) ambassador of one of the most exciting wine regions in Australia – Orange – using the name of a town to describe a wine style muddies the waters for both consumers and the trade. Yes, the Europeans have cornered the market calling certain wines by the name of a region, like Champagne, Burgundy or Rioja, but that is based on terroir, not style, and certainly not colour.
Before I start to argue my way to the bottom of a wine barrel, let’s take a step back and compare the two – orange the wine style, and Orange, the wine region.
What is Skin Contact (or ‘orange’) Wine?
This style of wine demands huge respect, as one of the oldest styles of wines in the world. Even though it all feels rather trendy today, skin contact wine is ancient, its origins stretch back around 6,000 years to Georgia, where wines were fermented naturally, without additives, in large buried earthenware amphorae (qvevri), sealed by flagstones and beeswax.
How is skin contact wine made?
Basically a white wine made like a red wine, white grapes are crushed and left in contact with the juice during winemaking for an extended period. The skins are where the colour, structure, and complexity of the wine mainly come from, deepened further through slow fermentation and gentle oxidation.
Unlike modern white winemaking, where skins are quickly removed, this extended maceration can last anything from a few hours to a number of days or even months, extracting colour (creating amber tones), tannins (for structure), phenolics (for complexity), and aromatic compounds (for more intense flavours).
Today, fermentation for skin contact wines typically use wild yeasts in neutral vessels such as clay amphorae, concrete, or old oak, allowing for a slow oxidative process.
What is skin contact wine like?
Colour, being our main bugbear here, of the wines can range from pale gold to brown, deep amber, copper, or even pink, and yes, even orange, depending on the grape variety, maceration time, and oxygen exposure.
Flavour profiles can span from more conventional to more funky ‘natural’ notes – some come with honey, bruised apple, dried fruit, nuts, and tea-like notes, sometimes with cider or hoppy beer-flavours on the palate.
Because of their structure, acidity and generally lower alcohol levels, skin-contact wines pair well with food, especially spicy and fermented dishes, as well as a wide range of cheeses.
Today’s skin-contact wines
While the technique never disappeared from Georgia, it faded elsewhere as modern white winemaking processes evolved. It’s only in the last 30 years that skin contact wines re-emerged on wine lists, inspired by Georgia, led by producers in northeastern Italy and Slovenia, often made from indigenous varieties like Ribolla Gialla, Rkatsiteli, Friulano, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio.
The key turning point came in the 1990s when Italian winemaker Josko Gravner, inspired by Georgia’s qvevri tradition, explored skin-contact wine production in Friuli. Today a global revival is led by producers such as Pheasant’s Tears, Radikon, COS, and others.
Up until this time, the style was called skin contact or amber wine. It was only in 2004, that the term “orange wine” was coined by British wine importer David A. Harvey, in an attempt to bring visibility to the style.
Orange - the wine region
Around four hours’ drive west of Sydney in New South Wales - Orange, at 600m to 1200m above sea level, is a cool-climate viticulture area, officially designated as an Australian wine region in 1996.
Agriculture dates back to the 1860s, with table grapes planted in the area in the 1920s. Modern commercial winemaking began in 1980 with apple and cherry tree farms pivoting to vineyards, planted initially with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Sauvignon Blanc.
Today, the region is home to more than 1200 hectares of vines, over 80 vineyards and 40 cellar doors, led by small batch producers focused on premium cool climate styles of still and traditional method sparkling wines.
Why is Orange important?
To carry the Orange name on a bottle, grapes must be grown in the region at 600 metres (1,969 feet) above sea level or higher - a defining benchmark that sets the region apart in the Australian wine scene. As a side note - fewer than 1% of the country’s vineyards reach this altitude, making Orange something of a rarity: a cool-climate outlier where altitude shapes the style in the glass.
Set in the shadow of the ancient volcano Mount Canobolas, Orange is regarded as Australia’s highest wine region. A variety of altitudes, aspects and diverse soil types create a patchwork of microclimates for vines, allowing over 25 grape varieties to thrive, from French and German classics to Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Greek. Summers are generally mild to moderate, with temperatures rarely climbing above 32°C, while cool to very cool nights preserve acidity and phenolic balance. Its long, dry growing season quietly shapes wines with precision, elegance and complexity.
The result means Orange is home to a wide range of wine styles, single varietals and blends, including skin contact wines - very much on-trend with today’s discerning wine consumers, seeking out naturally fresh, delicate yet complex, lower-alcohol wines with fine tannins.
The region has also become a magnet for some of Australia’s most influential winemakers, such as Philip Shaw, formerly chief winemaker at Rosemount Estate and twice winner of IWSCs Winemaker of the Year (1986 and 2000), who is widely credited with helping shape the modern Australian Chardonnay style; and William Rikard-Bell, Young Gun of Wine 2025 Finalist (Winemaker Awards) alongside a wave of producers drawn to Orange, attracted by its cool-climate potential.
That appeal has translated into national and international recognition for the region, such as Printhie Wines given the accolade of Best Australian Sparkling Wine for its Swift 2011 Blanc de Blancs at the 2022 Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships in London; and See Saw Wines who consistently win Best Organic Wine in NSW; and Philip Shaw Wines’ multiple Decanter World Wine Awards.
As one of Australia’s youngest wine regions, Orange buzzes with a spirit of experimentation, with producers united by low-intervention winemaking and sustainability. This ethos is reinforced by a growing community of organic and biodynamic growers and winemakers, including See Saw, Tamburlaine Organic Wines, Macquariedale Organic Wines and Ross Hill Wines.
The town of Orange, widely regarded as one of NSW’s leading food destinations, is home to around 70 wine bars, restaurants and pubs – and whether you pop into a pub or one of its fine dining restaurants, you’ll find wine lists focused on local wine producers. This is a wine town, and everyone here know that what grows together goes together.
While Australia does not incorporate Michelin stars, Orange has several restaurants recognised with Good Food Guide “hats,” anchoring its growing reputation as a food-and-wine hub drawing more than one million visitors every year. Not bad for a town of around 42,000 residents.
My case against calling skin contact wines ‘orange’
Having taken everything into account, here are my (personal) thoughts on the terminology of orange as a wine style versus Orange as a wine region:
History
Skin contact winemaking an ancient wine style that should be respected, why give it such a simple name, it’s so much more than a colour. If anything, follow the home of skin contact wine, Georgia who call it Amber wine.
Skin contact wine is not just one style either, it can be made conventionally, naturally, oxidatively or reductively, with different grape varieties and across multiple wine regions. Calling it a unified ‘orange style’ implies more homogeneity than really exists.
The term ‘Orange’ wine was only coined in 2004, by David A. Harvey – Orange, the wine region has been growing grapes since the 1920s, and producing wine commercially since 1980. Let’s do the maths.
The colour
Orange wines are not always orange; they can be any colour from pink, to brown to amber.
It’s lazy terminology
I understand for the trade, a colour is easier to explain than a process, but this is a skin contact wine style, let’s call it what it is and create a narrative around it – just as we do for organic, biodynamic or natural wines. Let’s prioritise education and storytelling over easy marketing terminology. Wine lists will be more interesting because of it.
It confuses consumers
The term ‘orange wine’ can suggest a flavour profile rather than a production method. I’ve heard so many consumers ask if oranges are added to the wine. The second most common question being whether orange is the name of a grape. Both incorrect and confusing.
Also, traditionally, wines are classified by colour (red, white, rosé), by method (sparkling, fortified) and by origin (appellation, GI). Orange wine sits between colour and method, which does not really fit traditional classifications, again creating confusion.
Focus on one name, rather than many
Producers and regions use different own terms for skin contact wines – from skin contact, to orange, to amber wine in Georgia (the home of skin contact wine), or ramato meaning ‘copper’ in Italy.
Wine from Orange is based on terroir
Orange wine (from the region) can be many styles - calling a bottle a wine from Orange is akin to calling a bottle a wine from Burgundy, conjuring up a various grape varieties and styles.
Skin contact wines can be a bit marmite
Not everyone likes ‘orange’ wines, especially the more unpredictable oxidated styles, and it’s potentially giving the real Orange wine region a bad rap.
To conclude….
As a one-woman show spearheading the biggest rebrand of a wine style this century - If we don’t want to go down the obvious route of calling it by its actual style – skin contact wine – and prefer to stick to a colour, perhaps we could call it ‘Amber’ (which is what Georgia, the origin of skin contact wines call it), or what about the more elevated ‘Gold’ wine – you never know, it could attract a whole new audience of wine drinkers.
The result is clear, the future is Orange (mind the pun) with a capital O.
Orange is a region very much in an upward swing, and this momentum is only likely to build as climate change reshapes where - and how – grapes and wine can be successfully grown and made. As temperatures climb, more Australian winemakers are being pushed to venture higher, or go further south, or diversify their viticultural choices, placing cool-climate regions like Orange in an increasingly strong position.
We can expect to see more wines from Orange appearing on shelves, lists and cellars in the years ahead – so how will that work on your lists if you have a section for ‘orange’ wines and a regional section for Orange wines?
Let’s give the style the respect it deserves and the wine region the recognition it needs.
I’d be keen to hear from retailers and sommeliers on their views on ‘orange’ for skin-contact wine and what, if anything, they feel this ancient style could more accurately or effectively be called.