2022 Roussanne "Orange Wine"

[crushday]

I'm picking up 300 pounds of Roussanne tomorrow and attempting to make a "Orange Wine". “Orange Wine” is simply a white wine that is fermented on the skins and has seen a rise in popularity the last several years. It's considered a "hipster" wine. The time the juice spends on the skins can be as little as a few days to as much as a year-long extended maceration. This time on the skins extracts color and has some oxidizing effects giving the wine an orangish hue. But more importantly, it extracts phenolics and flavors from the skins and seeds, giving the resulting wine much more structure and intensity than a traditional white wine.

Roussanne is most famously known for its role in the Rhone Valley white wines of Chateauneuf du Pape, Hermitage, and St. Joseph. Here the wines are noted for their intense aromatics and distinct herbal/tea leaf flavors.

My son, whom is engaged to be married during the summer of 2023, asked me to make this style of wine and serve it at the wedding. I provided all wine at my other son's wedding (July 2020) so there is some built-in expectation. It took me a while to find the right grapes in the right quantity - 300 pounds. I think/hope that 300 pounds will result in 25 gallons of finished wine or about 125 bottles; enough for the wedding and for me to use personally.

Yeast planned is DV10 and I'm planning on a 20 day ferment as I'll keep the ferment in an ambient temperature of about 64 degrees. I plan to co-innoculate CH16 bacteria after formation of the initial cap.

I'll post the process in the days to come.

 

[David Violante]

I’m looking forward to hearing more… I’m very intrigued! Thank you for sharing this journey with us~

 

[crushday]

Crushed the Roussanne - here’s the numbers: Brix: 23.8, pH: 3.71 - added go ferm, Opti White and 65gm tartaric.

Must volume: 27 gallons

 

[ibglowin]

Keep us posted. We tried a bottle a few months ago from the Paso Robles area. Not made from Roussanne grapes but Pinot Gris. It was "interesting" but not outstanding really. It was also a one and done. You may wish to have a "backup wine" just in case.

 

[crushday]

Keep us posted. We tried a bottle a few months ago from the Paso Robles area. Not made from Roussanne grapes but Pinot Gris. It was "interesting" but not outstanding really. It was also a one and done. You may wish to have a "backup wine" just in case.

View attachment 93453

Mike, incredibly helpful. I'm persuaded by the 'one and done' comment. My son is 30 years old and has a large network of friends in North LA/Hollywood (he's a film editor in Hollywood) who drink this style of wine often.

I will also be providing an assortment of other wines for the wedding... And, I'm happy to report that I'll be officiating the wedding too...

 

[ibglowin]

Thats kinda crazy coincidence. Our daughter who also lives out in LA (Burbank) is also a lead editor for TV shows for Netflix. Discovery, Nat Geo etc.

They were married in our back yard (in 2012) and Mrs. IB officiated. My grapes cooperated nicely that year.

Mike, incredibly helpful. I'm persuaded by the 'one and done' comment. My son is 30 years old and has a large network of friends in North LA/Hollywood (he's a film editor in Hollywood) who drink this style of wine often.

I will also be providing an assortment of other wines for the wedding... And, I'm happy to report that I'll be officiating the wedding too...

 

[crushday]

Update: Initial Cap Formation

I had a loosely organized cap this morning. Cap temperature before punch was 64 degrees - after punch 61 degrees. I'll be punching on the sixes - 6am and 6pm for the next 21-24 days or when the brix bottoms out.

 

[CDrew]

Great topic, and I'm very interested to see how it goes. Roussanne is already the red wine drinker's white wine, so an "orange" wine even more so.

 

[Cynewulf]

Are you tasting as you go? Interested in how the tastes, textures, and aromas develop.

 

[crushday]

Update: Moving along nicely

I've been punching the cap for three days now. I added the bacteria (CH16) for MLF last night at the 6pm punching. Answering the question posed by @Cynewulf - I don't typically taste much (initial and at first racking) but I do drink in the aroma. At crush, grapes smelled green, herbaceous and leafy. Today, as soon as I opened the fermenter I was met with a sensory overload of "ok, this is becoming wine" and I had condensation on the lid.

The ambient temperature is 60 degrees. The temperature of the must after punch was 71 degrees; a not so surprising testament to the activity of the yeast. And, the six inch blanket of skins and seeds does have some insulative properties. You need that heat to help extract the goodies from the grape matter.

 

[crushday]

Update: Temp at 78!

I was surprised by the temp of the must this morning. The ambient temp is 60 degrees. I knew the yeast produced heat but this is still surprising to me...

Also, found a dead fruit fly on the lid of my fermenter. I cover the whole fermenter and lid with a "shower cap" that I believe traps the CO2 and kills anything, especially fruit flies, if they are able to slip in under the elastic of the shower cap.

I might add, I'm no entomologist (either actual or aspiring), but what I know about fruit flies is that they do not have lungs. They gain oxygen via air tubes and can reportedly survive a long time in an environment void of oxygen. Over the years, I have found dozens of dead fruit flies on the lids of my fermentors, which are all loosely fitted but also fitted with a gasket. I'm relatively certain the flies don't have an opportunity to gain access to the must before they are overcome by the near 100% CO2 atmosphere.

 

[crushday]

Update: Pressed today

Roussanne was -2 brix this morning and I knew I had to press. But, we have company and we were going to take them to Rainier National Park. See pics. Roussanne is in the next post.

Pressed the wine once I got home at 5pm.

 

[crushday]

Roussane pics:

 

[Duc]

Really interesting, please keep updating as I would like to learn about this style and how it turns out

 

[crushday]

Update: Racking

I racked the Orange Wine today to carboys. It's a really cool color...

 

[BarrelMonkey]

Update: Racking

I racked the Orange Wine today to carboys. It's a really cool color...

How does it taste?

 

[crushday]

Update: MLF Complete

You can see from the test media ("O" is the Orange Wine), the malolactic conversion has completed. Given the report of the other tests, which experimentally had the bacteria added after AF was complete (considered normal practice), this Orange Wine was co-inoculated (my normal practice) after the first full cap during AF.

Conclusion: From here I will always co-inoculate the bacteria after the formation of the first strong cap.

KMeta added and I will rack once more and bottle late spring/early summer.

 

[joeswine]

I'm picking up 300 pounds of Roussanne tomorrow and attempting to make a "Orange Wine". “Orange Wine” is simply a white wine that is fermented on the skins and has seen a rise in popularity the last several years. It's considered a "hipster" wine. The time the juice spends on the skins can be as little as a few days to as much as a year-long extended maceration. This time on the skins extracts color and has some oxidizing effects giving the wine an orangish hue. But more importantly, it extracts phenolics and flavors from the skins and seeds, giving the resulting wine much more structure and intensity than a traditional white wine.

Roussanne is most famously known for its role in the Rhone Valley white wines of Chateauneuf du Pape, Hermitage, and St. Joseph. Here the wines are noted for their intense aromatics and distinct herbal/tea leaf flavors.

My son, whom is engaged to be married during the summer of 2023, asked me to make this style of wine and serve it at the wedding. I provided all wine at my other son's wedding (July 2020) so there is some built-in expectation. It took me a while to find the right grapes in the right quantity - 300 pounds. I think/hope that 300 pounds will result in 25 gallons of finished wine or about 125 bottles; enough for the wedding and for me to use personally.

Yeast planned is DV10 and I'm planning on a 20 day ferment as I'll keep the ferment in an ambient temperature of about 64 degrees. I plan to co-innoculate CH16 bacteria after formation of the initial cap.

I'll post the process in the days to come.

Why not add some orange zest to the mix

 

[crushday]

Why not add some orange zest to the mix

Thanks for the question Joe. "Orange Wine" is called such because of the resulting color of fermenting this white wine on the skins. Adding orange zest would be a departure from the pure style of this wine.

 

[crushday]

Here's a proof of the label for the Orange Wine. We've decided to name it Golden. It will be bottled in standard flint punted Bordeaux 750ml bottles. Label will be printed on cream linen textured stock. Everything outside the pink line will be cut away and the pink line will be removed in the final process. I'll dress the bottles with a bronze cap.