The 25 Best Orange Wines for 2024

Skin-contact wine goes by many names in the wine world right now. It’s known as amber wine in its original home in Georgia, while some areas of Italy refer to theirs as Ramato. But in the U.S., these bottles have really taken off under the persona of “orange wine.” Whatever you call them, they’re made by macerating white wine grapes on their skins, which can lead to a spectrum of dazzling colors from salmon to copper to, yes, orange.

This winemaking method imparts both a distinct color and flavor profile to the wines. Depending on the grape variety and length of skin maceration, these wines offer quite a range. They can sometimes drink like red wine with grippy tannins, they can be savory and herbaceous, or juicy and quaffable porch-pounders.

The category has exploded over the past few years, with orange wines popping up in every corner of the globe. From Slovenia and Georgia to the Willamette Valley and all the way down under in Australia, here are 25 of the best orange (amber, skin contact) wines for 2024.

Best Orange Wines Under $25

Klet Brda Krasno White Wine With Maceration 2022

In this part of the world, white wine made with skin maceration is part of its history. This is a skin-contact wine from Slovenia, a region that has been embracing this style for centuries, if not longer. Made from native Slovenian varieties and macerated on the skins for a year, this wine is deep with notes of agave, ginger, and pears on the nose. The palate is balanced and refreshing, with nice acid and fruit to match.

Average price: $18
Rating: 92

Breaking Bread Winery Marmalade 2023

Erik Miller, winemaker at Kokomo Winery out in Sonoma, Calif., has a serious command of wine science. He wanted to take a crack at the funky side of wine with the Breaking Bread label, and the result is balanced and delicious. Big bright grapefruit and a bit of orange peel and white pepper welcome your nose. The palate is just right with good acidity and abundant fruit with a bitter kiss on the finish to cut through the juiciness. Marmalade for sure!

Average price: $20
Rating: 92

Kobal Sivi Pinot 2023

Kobal, based in Slovenia’s Haloze Hills, produces some incredible skin-contact wines. This bottle was on VinePair’s top 50 wines of 2023 list, and we just couldn’t deny its awesomeness and had to list it again. On the nose it’s all watermelon and white pepper with a slight hint of yogurt. On the palate it’s soft and balanced with notes of guava and a refreshing finish.

Average price: $20
Rating: 93

Slavček Sivi Pinot 2022

The Slavček estate has been making wine in Slovenia’s Vipava Valley since the 18th century. Just over the border from Friuli, it makes sense that Pinot Grigio (Sivi Pinot in Slovenian) would thrive here. This wine delivers a peachy, waxy nose with some honeysuckle aromas. There’s great balance on the palate with wonderful texture.

Average price: $20
Rating: 90

Dorcha Oranžna 2022

Dorcha is making great wines up in the northeastern corner of Slovenia. This bottle is made from two aromatic grapes, Gelber Muskateller and Traminer. It’s waxy and floral with some pear and spicy agave on the nose. The palate is grippy and lean with mild fruit, but enough to match the high acid.

Average price: $23
Rating: 90

Schuchmann ‘Vinoterra’ Kisi 2020

The country of Georgia has been making skin-contact wine, which they call amber wine, for thousands of years. The more we see on U.S. shelves and wine lists, the better. It gives us a glimpse into the history of how these wines were initially made. This bottle is a great entry to wines from this amazing country. It’s so balanced and approachable. It’s all about texture with medium depth of fruit and slight yet present tannic grip.

Average price: $23
Rating: 93

Best Orange Wines Under $50

Sanctum Leptir 2022

Sanctum is a Slovenian winery that takes inspiration from the French Carthusian monks who brought vines to their land in the mid-12th century. The wines of Sanctum are a call back to the past while maintaining the quality of today. A blend of Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris, this delicious wine has notes of dried orange peel and cream with a hint of herbs. The palate is excellent with a seamless balance between fruit and acid.

Average price: $25
Rating: 92

Field Recordings Skins 2023

Winner of VinePair’s 2023 Next Wave award for winery of the year, Field Recordings continues to show innovation and quality in American wine. This deep orange skin-contact wine is an eclectic blend — including varieties like Chenin Blanc, Pinot Gris, Colombard, Vermentino, and more — and it works so well. The nose offers notes of peaches and citrus, with a hint of earth. It has excellent balance on the palate with roasted fruit flavors and a slight grip.

Average price: $25
Rating: 93

Division Winemaking Company L’Orange 2023

Division threw the kitchen sink at this orange wine and man did it work. Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay, Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Roussanne, and Sauvignon Blanc all in one beautiful bottle. This wine offers a ripe and savory nose of agave and pears with a hint of spice. There’s extreme balance on the palate with good medium fruit and active acid making the wine refreshing. A great American orange.

Average price: $26
Rating: 92

Azienda Agricola Summer Wolff Ette 2022

This might be the most interesting orange wine we tasted this year. Made from a once-obscure table grape from the Piedmont region of Italy called Baratuciat (which, fun fact, roughly translates to cat testicles). Summer Wolff brought the forgotten variety back to life with this aromatic skin-contact expression. The result is a very cool wine with notes of green tea and apples with a hint of ginger on the nose and a lean palate with a nice refreshing grip.

Average price: $27
Rating: 92

Good Intentions Wine Company Cantina Blanca 2022

The orange wine category has really expanded since the idea really hit New World wine regions. In Australia, Good Intentions Wine Co. went full Savvy B with skin contact, which we don’t see often. We are definitely here for it because it’s so unique and different. The nose is all roasted jalapeños and peat. The palate is very well-balanced with aromas from the nose carrying over. It has a slight grip and great fruit depth.

Average price: $27
Rating: 90

Catch & Release Wines Block Party 2023

This aromatic orange wine — made with a blend of Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Gewürztraminer — sees about 15 days of skin contact, and is aged in neutral oak to impart a soft, welcoming texture. The wine has bright grapefruit and hibiscus notes on the nose, and a juicy, round palate. Truly the ideal bottle for a block party.

Average price: $28
Rating: 90

Pray Tell Skin Contact 2023

While this bottle’s playful orange popsicle label might pull you in, the stunningly complex wine is what will have you reaching for another glass (and likely another bottle). This skin-contact blend is a unique combination of 70 percent Pinot Gris, grown in the high-elevation Chehalem Mountains of the Willamette Valley, and 30 percent Chardonnay from the Eola-Amity Hills. The Pinot Gris brings vibrant notes of guava, peaches, strawberries, and jasmine flowers and a rich, rounded texture on the palate, while the Chardonnay adds a pop of acidity.

Average price: $28
Rating: 93

Two Shepherds Pinot Gris Ramato 2023

Two Shepherds doesn’t just have one skin-contact wine — the winery makes a full line of them, each with its own personality. This wine is inspired by the farm’s Sicilian donkeys, Dolce and Sofia, made in the Ramato style (Italian for copper tinted) a famous skin-contact wine from the boot. Made from Pinot Gris, it has a juicy fruit core with pops of fresh berries, tropical fruit, and some white pepper.

Average price: $28
Rating: 92

Tinto Amorio Bheeyo 2023

This California skin-contact wine is a unique blend of Colombard and Gewürztraminer with a splash of Zinfandel and Albariño. The nose is straight up grapefruit juice. Like, it smells like freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and creamy yogurt. The palate is well-balanced with more of that vibrant citrus character and active acidity. It’s very cool.

Average price: $29
Rating: 92

Emme Wines ‘tell your sister i say hi’ 2023

Winemaker Rosalind Reynolds set out to show the texture and aromatics of pure Colombard fermented on its skins, and this wine from the organic Recetti Vineyard in California’s Redwood Valley AVA does just that. The wine is made in two different processes — one tank was left on the skins for a week, and the other just for 24 hours. This leads to great complexity and layers of flavors. There’s bright florals and citrus notes on the nose, and an enticing texture on the palate with fresh acidity. Keep an eye out for this new vintage drop on the Emme Wines site this Fall.

Average price: $30
Rating: 90

Pax Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard Trousseau Gris 2022

Trousseau Gris is an obscure gray-skinned grape variety, so skin contact lends to a unique light-pink color in this wine. This bottling is sourced from the historic Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard, which is one of the few rare plots of Trousseau Gris in California — and the wine world at large. It has a punchy, ripe nose with bright notes of citrus, guava, and white flowers. The palate is textured and refreshing with a creamy finish.

Average price: $30
Rating: 91

Smallfry ‘Tangerine Dream’ 2022

Two viticulturalists in Australia’s Barossa Valley decided to start making wine from some of the fruit they work with, and Smallfry was born — which is good news because this wild blend of Semillon, Pedro Ximenez, Riesling, Roussanne, and a splash of Muscat is so damn good. Earthy Earl Grey tea on the nose with a lil cheese shop funk. The nose is balanced, but it’s the palate that will get you with an even, good grip and fruit that rises up to the acid level.

Average price: $30
Rating: 91

Neighborhood Winery ‘Dawn’ Orange Wine 2023

Neighborhood Winery is part of Pali Wine Co., a wine collective in Santa Barbara County. It is a very exciting endeavor showcasing a new generation of winemakers and American wine ingenuity while offering very balanced wines. This wine is made from a blend of Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir. Its name says it all, as the wine’s color evokes the skies at dawn. It’s refreshing and vibrant with a slight grip and good acidity.

Average price: $35
Rating: 92

Neighborhood Winery ‘Market Price’ Orange Wine 2023

Neighborhood winery came into our orbit a couple of years ago and we always look forward to what it will come up with next. Put this one down as a skin-contact-but-not-really-but-sort-of-but-really-it-is-a-skin-contact wine. It’s made from Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir, and Orange Muscat, but the Pinot is vinified white with no skin contact. The result is so damn fun and delicious. The nose is all tea tree oil and citrus with a refreshing, juicy palate.

Average price: $35
Rating: 90

Darling Wines Pinot Gris 2023

Darling has been making dry white Pinot Gris since 2022. This vintage the winery mixed things up a bit by adding five days of skin contact. The result is a wonderful orange wine, which is actually more of a delicate pink color. It has grapefruit pith, guava, and strawberries on the nose with some wafts of yogurt and good minerality. The palate is soft and juicy with refreshing acidity and an intriguing texture.

Average price: $36
Rating: 92

Schrammel 2.0 Alternativ Orange 2021

Old-vine skin-contact Grüner Veltliner from Austria? Yes please. This wine has a subtle nose with a hint of citrus and white pepper. The palate has an herbaceous vibe that’s balanced by awesome texture and fruit depth.

Average price: $36
Rating: 92

Bodega Clandestina Orange Censurat 2022

Ferran Lacruz returned to his home in Penedès to make wine in 2018, not to try his hand at the region’s famous sparkling wines, but instead to experiment with native grapes and traditional winemaking styles. This is a unique orange wine made from a basically unheard of grape variety: Carignan Blanc. It sees about 30 days of skin maceration, which brings a good texture to the wine. At first the wine comes off with a slight vinegar aroma, but after a few minutes that blows off, unveiling intriguing notes of orange peel and herbs like rosemary and tarragon.

Average price: $41
Rating: 90

Jacuzzi Family Vineyards Clarum 2020

A Cline family project, Jacuzzi is all about history and family heritage. The vineyard is named after Fred Cline’s grandparents, Valeriano and Pina Jacuzzi. Speaking of history: This wine is made from the Viognier grape in the ancient style of amphora aging and the result is just awesome. It has deep honey notes with some chamomile and pear aromas. There’s a nice balance on the palate with soft grip and good acid-to-fruit ratio.

Average price: $45
Rating: 90

Best Orange Wines Over $50

DaVero Farms & Winery Greco-Fiano 2018

DaVero has a unique focus on Italian varieties in the land of Pinot Noir: Sonoma, Calif. This wine is made from two grapes native to Campania, Italy — and it’s an absolute success. The nose has notes of tea and citrus peel with subtle honey. It’s spicy on the palate with nice grip and balanced fruit depth.

Average price: $60
Rating: 91

FAQs

How is Orange Wine Made?

Orange wine is made from white wine grapes that have been left in contact with their skins, which is why the category can also be referred to as skin-contact wines. Normally, white wine grapes are removed from their skins after pressing the grapes, leaving a translucent “white” wine. In the case of orange wines, the juice is macerated on the skins, similar to how a red wine is made. The skins can lend color, structure, and tannin to the wine, giving orange wines a unique hue and flavor profile compared to white wines made with the same grape varieties.

What Grapes Are Used in Orange Wine?

Orange wine can be made from any white grape varieties from Chardonnay to Sauvignon Blanc. However, there are some grapes that are more commonly used to make skin-contact wines because of the unique color their skins lend to the wine. For example, it is common in Italy to make a skin-contact wine from Pinot Grigio, because the unique color of the skins gives the wine a copper-like color. This popular style of wine is actually called “ramato,” meaning copper in Italian.

Where Does Orange Wine Come From?

With the growing popularity of orange wines, producers are now making them all around the world. However, the tradition of making skin-contact wines is thought to have originated in the country of Georgia, which is often referred to as the birthplace of wine. In Georgia, the white wines would be macerated on the skins and aged in clay amphorae they call “qvevri.” This tradition continues to this day, and many ancient winemaking regions also carry on this tradition. However, as seen in this list, there are incredible orange wines to explore from almost every region now.

VinePair’s Tasting Methodology: How We Rate

Throughout the year, VinePair conducts numerous tastings for our popular Buy This Booze column and wine and spirits reviews. Our mission is to offer a clear, reliable source of information for drinkers, providing an overview applicable to day-to-day buying and drinking.

In alignment with our reviews mission, we believe in purposefully tasting all products as our readers typically would, with full knowledge of the producer, the region, and — importantly — the price. Tastings are therefore not typically conducted blind.

For this Buy This Booze roundup, we included a maximum of one expression per brand, though we did allow multiple products from the same production facility (i.e., released under different labels).

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