National Orange Wine Day Date in the current year: October 6, 2024

Wine color depends on the color of the grape skin and the time the skin remains in contact with the grape juice. Red wine is produced from dark-skinned (red) grape varieties by a process that involves prolonged skin contact. Rosé wine is produced from red grape varieties by a process that involves short skin contact.

White wine is produced from light-skinned (white) grape varieties by a process that doesn’t involve skin contact. It should be noted that some white wines may be produced from red grape varieties by a no contact process; for example, some sparkling white wines, including champagne, are made from Pinot Noir.

Finally, orange wine, also known as amber wine, is produced from white grape varieties by a process that involves long skin contact. Basically, it is made the same way as red wine but using white grapes. Due to this, the alternative names of orange wine include skin-fermented white wine and skin-contact white wine.

During the production of orange wine, the grape skins stay in contact with the juice for one to six months, allowing the juice to absorb tannins, phenols and pigments from the skins. As a result, orange wines are noticeably darker and higher in tannins than white wines.

Orange wine isn’t some recent invention for pretentious hipsters; it has a long history spanning several millennia. There is evidence that orange wine was produced thousands of years ago in what is now Georgia. Grapes were placed in large earthenware vessels called kvevris that were then sealed and placed in the ground for fermentation. Since the skins, seeds and stems weren’t separated from the juice, the resulting wine had an amber color.

Winemakers from northern Italy and Slovenia borrowed the practice after visiting Georgia. However, skin-fermented white wines eventually went out of fashion and didn’t experience a new surge in popularity until the early 2000s. It was then that the modern term “orange wine” was coined by David Harvey, a wine importer from the United Kingdom. Because of their long history but recent resurgence some people call orange wines the world’s “newest old wines”.

Today, skin-fermented white wines are produced in Austria, Germany, Croatia, New Zealand, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the United States (California). And, of course, Georgia still produces its signature orange wines. However, it should be noted that Georgian orange wines are commonly referred to as amber wines.

National Orange Wine Day was created in 2018 by Amanda Claire Goodwin, the owner and author of the blog The Real Housewine. She wanted to raise awareness of his lesser-known type of wine and its long history. You can celebrate the holiday by buying a bottle of orange wine and sharing it with someone you care about, attending a wine tasting that includes orange wines, and spreading the word on social media with the hashtag #NationalOrangeWineDay.