Jeff - Wine Specialist, Sherman Oaks
"Baby steps onto the bus..."
I'm still scarred from my first encounter with orange wine, which may have been the "funkiest" I could have tasted. We've repeatedly sold out of "Monje" from Tinto Amorio, which they claim... "The best orange wine you've had & the first to sell out each season." My my, those are bold words.
With trepidation, I made my purchase...
My immediate impression was that white wine and pink grapefruit juice had a baby. As the bottle opened, I got strong impressions of young apricot and mild lime. The up-front acid is heavily muted, perhaps by the skin contact, though there is still a persistent minerality not completely unlike vitamin C. The website says it is "fermented to 0% total sugars", which is important to distinguish the difference between "bone dry" (at 0% sugar) and "funky".
Overall it was a fun, enjoyable experience, growing on me with each sip. This is a big step for me towards the trend that orange wine is. I definitely can see why people like the category. And I'll admit, I like the label, which is fun and appropriate as we head into the Halloween season, no?
Let's say I'm... "intrigued".
