Name: Municipal Skin Contact Savagnin 2021
SKU: 25920
Price: 32 AUD
Availability: OutOfStock

The term ‘Orange Wine’ is a colloquial term used mainly in English-speaking countries for a style of wine also known as ‘Skin Contact’ white wine. Modern iterations of this ancient winemaking method can differ somewhat to more traditional examples, but the ethos behind them is still the same.


Orange wine is essentially a wine made from white wine grapes which is made using a method similar to red wine. Once the grapes are harvested, they can be left as whole bunches, berries, or even crushed and then transferred to a vessel to ferment – skins, seeds, and all. The wine then gradually ferments with the skins steeping in the juice in a process called maceration, before being eventually pressed and the skins separated from the juice. This step of maceration can last for hours, days, months and - in some cases - even years!


It may sound like a lazy way to make wine, but there are many reasons why this method is so popular, especially amongst producers of minimal intervention wines. Grape skins contain a plethora of naturally derived preservatives which help protect the wine from spoiling. It’s a bit like when you take a bite into an apple and leave it be for a little while – notice how the inside begins to oxidise and turns brown? 

Fruit skins not only act as a physical barrier, but they also contain a high concentration of organic chemicals such as phenolic compounds, some of which have antioxidant and antimicrobial properties that help to preserve the fruit. Provided that the wine is still handled with care and oxygen exposure is kept to a minimum, this means that fermenting with skins allows for less reliance on common winemaking additives, such as sulphur dioxide, to safeguard against spoilage. Thus, winemakers can often get away with using little to no sulphur in the production of skin-contact wines.


Fermenting on skins also has the potential to introduce larger populations of the indigenous yeasts that live in the vineyards, and on the grapes themselves. This plays a huge role in successful fermentation for winemakers who only use naturally present yeasts (often referred to as ‘spontaneous fermentation’), with different yeasts imparting unique flavours into the finished wine.


In addition to this, fermenting on skins allows the tannins and colour pigments to infuse into the wine, similar to steeping a tea bag in water. This is (yep, you guessed it!) why they are often referred to as Orange wines, as these pigments impart a colour to the resultant wine. They aren’t always an ‘orange’ colour though, and the strength of the colour can vary depending on the length of the maceration and the grape varieties used, though they commonly range from a pale yellow/gold colour to the eponymous copper/amber hue. The skins and seeds also play a vital role in giving the wines a savoury and textural quality, bringing more prominent tannins as well as flavours like citrus peel, sandalwood, dried spices, and sometimes a little nuttiness into the fold.

What is Orange Wine?

By definition, vegan wines are made without the use of these animal-based fining agents. They either rely on gravity to clarify the wine, use other fining agents which are not animal-derived, or the wine can be bottled cloudy to give it that ‘lo-fi’ look and texture. If you encounter the words ‘unfined and unfiltered’ on the back of a wine bottle, then you’re probably in good hands.

Historically, the production of wine did involve just fermented grapes, which were picked, crushed or left whole, and put inside a sealed container to ferment and mature. There are many reasons why wines are left to mature, but the one we’re going to dive into is filtration. 

During the fermentation process, wines are typically very cloudy and are full of small particles suspended in it. These can be organic particles coming from the grapes themselves, traces of dirt (grapevines are grown in soil, after all), or they can be from organisms such as yeasts, which at the time are busy producing alcohol. When a ferment begins to wind down, yeast cells begin to die off, forming a clay-like slurry at the bottom of the fermentation vessel referred to as lees. Generally speaking, gravity (and a cold environment) does a pretty good job of allowing a wine’s lees to drop out of suspension, allowing for clear wine to be siphoned off from the lees to another clean tank in a process called racking. This can be a time-consuming process, however, and is a significant barrier for winemakers looking to release their wines quickly. 

As a result, one of the methods that modern winemakers have developed to speed up this process is through the use of fining agents. These additives essentially act as a magnet, binding to impurities and particles suspended in a wine and then sinking to the bottom of the fermentation vessel, leaving the wine clear.

There are many different fining agents available for winemakers to use, and some of these agents are derived from animal products. There are also fining agents which are derived from extracts found in the earth’s soil, which are permitted in the production of vegan wines. But they aren’t all used for the same task, and they can vary in efficacy and application. 


**Examples of animal-based fining agents include: **
- Casein (a protein found in mammalian milk)
- Egg whites
- Isinglass (a form of gelatine extracted from the swim bladders of fishes) 

**Examples of earth-based fining agents include:**
- Bentonite (A type of clay)
- Plant-derived Casein
- Silica Gel
- Limestone
- Charcoal

Other products involved in wine production that may potentially be derived from animal products are beeswax (used for wax seals) and some agglomerated corks which can use milk-based glues. 

What is Vegan Wine?

Wine can perplex the senses. It can be at once beguiling and exciting, then challenging and shrouded in mystery. These are wines to dissect and unravel; delve into them deeply and unearth the pleasures within.

Drinkability Guide: Contemplate

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Pine lime, lemon balm and saline mineral notes with a powerful line of acid and chewy texture. This is a great seafood wine!

Municipal Skin Contact Savagnin 2021

$32.00

Out of Stock Online

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