If you are new to orange wine, you are in for a treat. From the colourful label, to the lovely orange liquid, to the pleasing notes of grapefruit and toasted bread—this is such a pretty wine. More Niagara winemakers are experimenting with orange wine, and winemaker and proprietor Eugene Roman at Rosewood Winery in Beamsville is crafting a fine example. His choice of grapes, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris, are particularly well suited to the style.

Orange wine is made by fermenting the wine with the grape skins intact. In the production of typical white wine, the grapes are crushed, the skins are quickly removed, and the juice is put into the fermentation vessel. Leaving the skins on the grapes (as is always done with red wine) is often considered a more natural and traditional way to make wine. But this style does impart a unique taste and appearance. The colour pigment in the grape skins gives the wine its orange hue, and the phenols and tannins present in the skins contribute to the wine’s unique taste.

Pure imagination is a low intervention wine using full cluster carbonic maceration and naturally fermented (non-selected yeast) in amphora. Only 1000 bottles of the 2020 vintage were bottled (without either fining or filtration), and they are already sold out at the winery. But you can still find a few bottles at Happy Coffee and Wine at 1304 King St W, Toronto - $40.00