Description
Here you have six of the most delicious skin contact / orange / amber wines around!
Skin-contact wines (aka 'orange' or 'amber' wines) is the ancient winemaking approach to making white wine, that has become hugely popular all over again. By leaving the grape juice on its skins for varying periods of time, you extract extra colour, aromas, flavours and textures, that make for a wildly delicious drinking experience.
This pack contains six of our most popular and delicious 'skinsy' wines, and is the perfect way to introduce yourself to this fascinating wine style!
- 2022 Unico Zelo Esoterico
- 2021 Smokestack Lightning Skin Contact Pinot Gris
- 2022 Das Juice Maceration
- 2023 Dormilona Orenji
- 2023 Future Days White
- 2023 Vinden Somerset Vineyard Skin Contact Gewurztraminer
2022 Unico Zelo Esoterico
"The chief driver is pure drinkability - a 'scrumptious' quality - mouthwatering acidity and 'say hello!' tannins. It's a Bohemian at heart."
- Brendan & Laura Carter on the Esoterico
A real cult favourite amongst those who've tracked the Carters from the beginning: the Esoterico is the wild child of the UZ range...
With Brendan and Laura's experience with this style of wine a little richer now, the execution of this skin contact white is on another level.
Supercharged aromatics from the Zibibbo, Moscato Giallo, Gewurztraminer & Greco, with a little boost to the mouthfeel from their old friend Fiano. They've certainly nailed this recipe, and it's no wonder it's become such a cult favourite for fans of this South Australian duo.
Orange in colour and cloudy as all get out, it lives up to its esoteric name but with oodles of drinkability. That's what skinsy whites should all be about.
2021 Smokestack Lightning Skin Contact Pinot Gris
The Smokestack Lightning wines from Dave Macintosh are interesting takes on white varieties made with a portion of skin contact and as little intervention as possible.
They are pure expressions of vineyards with amazing vitality. A cleaner, more grown-up version of the amber wine scene, you might say.
The SCPG (Skin Contact Pinot Gris) shows almost more in common with a Rosé than a white. The natural blushed pink tones of the Pinot Gris skin really getting a chance to shine in this release.
This version spent 14 days on skins then hung out in a barrel for a while to really hit its straps.
It's a voluptuous version of the variety which doesn't compromise on freshness. It's excellent drinking all round.
2022 Das Juice Maceration
Das Juice is a partnership between long time friends and business partners, Tom Sheer and James Audas. The two run LO-FI Imports, a wine importing company that sources rare and unique natural wines from across the globe.
Recognising that there is a need for more affordable wines made with that same ethos (i.e. sustainably farmed and made with minimal intervention), the boys set up Das Juice to fill the gap.
Their skin-contact white wine (or amber wine) is made mostly from Muscat and Arneis, with a small amount of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay thrown in for added freshness. All fruit is sourced from different regions in South Australia
After spending the first couple weeks of its life fermenting on skins, it was bottled unfined and unfiltered, revealing a golden, sunny, richly-flavoured orange wine that is dangerously easy to knock back.
2023 Dormilona Orenji
This is the perfect 'training-wheels' wine if you're just getting into skin-contact white wines.
Orenji is a cheeky little number. A blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, hand-harvested from an organic vineyard in Margaret River. Jo let the fruit hang out on skins for two weeks before pressing it and putting it to bed in both barrel and ceramic egg.
She wants this to be a friendly style of orange wine, not a big, scary, chewy number.
It's something you can knock back without thinking too much about. and if keen to get your head around skinsy whites it a terrific place start.
2023 Future Days White
Here's another unique blend crafted by the Konpira Maru lads, Sam and Al.
Blending Arneis, Chardonnay, Riesling, and Pinot Gris from vineyards high up in the Victorian mountains, this wine is a juicy, tropical-hearted taste adventure waiting to happen!
Fun, versatile drinking and superb value.
2023 Vinden Somerset Vineyard Skin Contact Gewurztraminer
Gewurztraminer is renowned for its aromatics, so using some skin contact is a great way to intensify them. This one from Gus Vinden does just that.
Two parcels of grapes were treated differently in the winery, with varying degrees of skin contact and fermentation in different vessels, including clay amphorae, French oak and stainless steel.
As you can imagine, the phenolics and aromas are pretty intense. Blossom, citrus, nuts, a bit of funkiness, but lots of fun, with a full mouthfeel and bright flavours. Truly an interesting take on Gewurz, but of course we'd expect that from Vinden.
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Delivery is free on orders of $150 or more!
For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.
We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.
Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.
Sydney (Our Vans): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions our driver will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so if not, they will return the item to us and hold your order until further instruction from you.
Melbourne (Anonymous Wine Freight): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions, the courier will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so. if not, they will return the item to their dispatch centre and hold until further instruction from you.
Australia Post: Australia Post will leave the parcel if they have been given authority to leave and it is deemed safe to do so. To give your Authority to Leave, please enter this in the 'SPECIAL REQUEST' box at checkout.
Ordering
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- Retrospective price-matching is available for 30 days after you have purchased from us.
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No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.
We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.
To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you.
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