By：Jenny Viant Gómez
“I was one of chaos”, this is one of the poems we read in the second chapter of “Divine Comedy: Inferno”.
Let’s start talking about wine today with Dante Alighieri, the father of Italian literature and language, to whom, 7 centuries after his death, this beautiful country bestowed the highest favor. Dante, known as Italy’s “greatest poet”, this is beyond doubt.
Wine macerated with white grapes, since it traces in part to the way red wines are made, is this still a bottle of white wine?
But in fact, it’s not. Because of their amber color, they’re often defined as “orange wines”; but many times they’re just more structured, structured white wines. As such, they are merely atypical white wines.
They are theoretically a bit ‘cloudy’ wines, but in reality they are gaining traction and eager to gain the approval of consumers who prefer to experience unclassic sensory sensations.
However, it must be noted that talking about skin-infused white wines today means going back in time with modern technology, as the practice dates back to the earliest forms of winemaking in history.
“Maceration,” a typical feature of red winemaking, a process that can sometimes last up to a month or so, is the process by which the grape juice remains in contact with the grape skins and produces the transfer of polyphenols responsible for the wine’s color and properties such as tannins.
However maceration of white wines means not only the visual aspect, no longer the usual straw yellow color, but also affects the underlying vital essence of the wine. Because I need to emphasize that in white wines, the fermentation of the must is usually done without any solids, at a controlled temperature.
Georgia is believed to be the first region to use terra cotta for maceration and vinification of white wine, often fermented by naturally occurring yeasts.
In Italy, l’Oslavia in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region is the reference region for the production of this type of wine. Whether it’s a nod to tradition, or a desire for experimentation or fashion, many producers have embraced this type of production, all with excellent results.
The macerated white wine has a more “material” sense, richer in aroma, more protein, stronger color, more complex, and basically more structured wine body.
Sometimes, they also have some sediment or some suspended residue. But they always find food to go with, and “connoisseurs” love to appreciate them and taste them in their purest form, in order to perceive all peculiarities (and sometimes flaws) undisturbed.
One thing’s for sure, they’re not for everyone, let alone those who are used to standardized, routine products. Even from an economic point of view, they stand out on the price list because they are not “cheap”.
There are also many suitable food pairings for skin-infused white wines. Raw seafood, sushi, slightly spicy meat dishes, risotto, medium-aged cheeses, cured meats, dried fruits and many other foods that you will love because it has so much room to combine. So everyone, don’t miss it!
