Domaine Lafage Taronja Orange Wine 2020

70% Grenache Gris, 20% Viognier, 10% Muscat. Half the Grenache Gris barrels were fermented whole bunch, one with carbonic maceration and one with destemmed grapes. Fermented in open-top 500-litre barrels.

"Macerated on skins and stalks for two weeks after fermentation. The Muscat and the Viognier were fermented in open-top barrels and macerated on skins and stalks for one week after fermentation. Dry-ice protection. Aged in barrels for six months. Blended before bottling with light filtration. Smells like Fanta orange. Big and fun, apricot gobstoppers; but clementine peel adds an edge, and cleansing acidity balances the alcohol and spices. This is definitely a gateway orange wine."
- Janics Robinson MW

This is an orange wine from the south of France. This means this white wine has been made like a red wine. Full bodied and aromatic with lively flavours and aromas of orange peel, pepper, ginger, melon and citrus. It has light, dry tannins and a coppery/amber colour from the skins.

Domaine Lafage are a Roussillon producer with a proud Catalan heritage, hence why on the bottle they have labelled it Côtes Catalanes, not Côtes du Roussillon, and have named it Taronja, the Catalan word for Orange. Made in conjunction with their neighbour and friend Justin Howard-Sneyd MW of Domaine of the Bee, this is a blend of old vine Grenache Gris, Grenache Blanc with a bit of Muscat and Viognier. Only four barrels were fermented, a mix of carbonic maceration, whole bunch, and destemmed and then the wine was left to macerate on its skins for two weeks. The result is a wine light amber/copper in colour (from the time macerating on the skins) and full of flavour. Orange peel, white pepper, ginger, melon and citrus fruit with light, dry tannins and fresh acidity on the palate. Mouthfilling with a long, persistent and clean finish.

ABV 13%