🍊 Have You Tried Orange Wine Yet?

Something strange has been happening at wine bars across Los Angeles.

You order by the glass. The sommelier brings you something amber-colored — deeper than white, lighter than rosé, kind of glowing in the candlelight. You take a sip. It tastes like nothing you expected. There’s texture. There’s grip. There’s a nutty, floral, slightly funky complexity that makes you put the glass down and say: What is this?

That, my friend, is orange wine. And if you haven’t tried it yet, spring is the perfect time to start.

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🍇 So… What Actually Is Orange Wine?

Despite the name, there are no oranges involved. (I know. Disappointing.)

Orange wine is made from white grapes — but with a twist. In conventional white winemaking, the grape skins are removed almost immediately after pressing. With orange wine, the skins stay in contact with the juice during fermentation, sometimes for just a few days, sometimes for months.

That extended skin contact changes everything. It adds:

🟠 Color — ranging from pale gold to deep amber to almost burnt orange (hence the name)

🍵 Texture — tannins from the skins give the wine a grip and body you don’t get in regular whites

🌿 Flavor — think dried apricot, orange peel, walnut, honey, chamomile, and a savory edge that pairs beautifully with food

The result is something that drinks a bit like a red, a bit like a white, and entirely like itself. It’s the chameleon of the wine world — and it pairs with food in ways that will make you rethink everything.

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📈 Why It’s Having a Moment (And It’s Not Just Hype)

Orange wine has technically been around for thousands of years — the Republic of Georgia has been making skin-contact wine in clay amphorae called qvevri since antiquity. But it fell out of fashion during the industrial wine era and only began its comeback in the early 2000s, through small natural wine producers in Italy and Slovenia.

Now? Global sales are up 30% year over year. Online searches for “orange wine” have grown 11% annually. What was once the obscure pick of the most adventurous sommelier on the menu is now showing up at every natural wine bar from Echo Park to Malibu.

This is not a fad. This is wine finally catching up to where flavor-curious drinkers have been heading for years.

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🍾 Three Bottles Worth Starting With

You don’t need to spend a fortune to find your entry point into orange wine. Here are three bottles that are approachable, widely available, and genuinely great:

1. Tinto Amorio “Bheyo” Skin-Contact Gewürztraminer | ~$18
Made in California from Gewürztraminer with 22 days of skin contact and a splash of Zinfandel for good measure. Juicy, fruit-forward, with grapefruit, orange peel, lychee, and a little ginger on the finish. This is the one I hand to skeptics first — it’s immediately lovable.

2. The Wonderland Project “Orange” | ~$22
A skin-fermented Chardonnay from Mendocino with notes of apple, apricot, and that soft amber glow. California terroir, natural winemaking, and a texture that makes it feel nothing like the Chardonnay you think you know.

3. Pheasant’s Tears Rkatsiteli (Georgia) | ~$28
If you want to drink something with actual ancient history, this is it. Made in the Republic of Georgia using the qvevri method that’s been around since 6000 BC — earthy, complex, and deeply aromatic. Serve it slightly chilled and prepare to have your world gently rearranged.

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📍 Where to Try Orange Wine in LA Right Now

You don’t have to commit to a whole bottle before you know you’re into it. These LA spots are pouring excellent skin-contact wines by the glass:

Silverlake Wine — Has a dedicated orange and skin-contact section. Great for browsing and buying to take home too.

Bar Covell — Los Feliz’s coziest wine bar, with rotating natural and orange pours in a candlelit, flea-market-chic setting. Perfect spring evening spot.

Little Ripper — Glassell Park’s all-day neighborhood gem. Funky skin-contact wines from brunch through dinner, always with interesting by-the-glass options.

Wife and the Somm — Also in Glassell Park, with a beautiful outdoor patio and an impressive by-the-glass selection that almost always includes something amber and intriguing.

Mignon — Downtown’s boutique natural wine destination. If you want to go deep into the category, this is the place for a proper education.

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🥂 The Bottom Line

Orange wine is not weird. It’s just different — and in the best possible way.

It’s a wine that rewards curiosity. One that reminds you that drinking well doesn’t have to mean drinking the same thing in a slightly different glass. It’s the wine equivalent of discovering a neighborhood you drove past a hundred times and never stopped to explore.

Spring is the season for trying new things. Might as well start with what’s in your glass. 🍊

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Have a bottle or a spot I should try? Find me at jed@jedi.la — always taking recommendations.