Posted: 18.06.2024
Bright wine for vivid impressions! Furmint Orange – the star of the season
Original, trendy, and very tasty – that’s our Furmint Orange wine. It became a bright new addition in 2023 when the chief winemaker of Chateau Chizay, Zoltan Udvardi, along with his team, created this complex style of Orange Wine (skin-contact) for the first time. The 2023 vintage, presented this spring, is considered even better. What makes this wine so special, and what do oranges have to do with it? Sommelier Vitaliy Kovach shares his impressions of the wine.
Oh no, oranges have nothing to do with it. The wine is only connected to oranges by its juicy orange hue, which gives the style its name. This wine is also referred to as amber and even copper.
So, what is the special feature and secret of this wine?
Orange wine is made from white grapes using a method typically reserved for red wines – by macerating the juice with the grape skins.
This process allows the grape to impart all of its qualities to the wine, resulting in the “body” and “density” of orange wine, along with its very appealing range of aromas and flavors.
The technology behind Orange Wine is thousands of years old. The style’s birthplace is Georgia, where the wine is called Amber Wine, and the first wines were made in qvevri – clay vessels buried in the ground.
In the 20th century, the development and popularity of such wines were furthered by Italy and Slovenia, and the term Orange Wine became established in the global wine industry.
Orange wine is always about experimentation; these wines are incredibly diverse and unique. The variety of grape types and fermentation methods, often no longer in amphoras but in other containers, depend entirely on the winemaker’s creativity.
In our case, it’s the noble Furmint grape, and only Chateau Chizay in Ukraine makes orange wine from it, which matures in neutral vessels and rests in oak.
As the world seeks originality and uniqueness, the popularity of amber wines grows each year. These wines are now a global trend for several reasons:
🍇 They are maximally rich in aromas and flavors
🍇 Orange Wine is called the elixir of youth
🍇 It contains a large number of valuable substances
🍇 It reveals itself intriguingly in the glass and surprises with its taste
🍇 It pairs excellently with a variety of dishes.
This is all about Furmint Orange!
Sommelier Vitaliy Kovach, brand ambassador of Chateau Chizay, calls this release a bright event in Ukrainian winemaking:
“Orange Wine is a white wine made by the red method. Europeans call it skin-contact. And our wine is exactly of the European style: more delicate and gentle.
Traditional amber color, with an aroma of fresh and dried white fruits, spices, and, of course, walnut. And regarding the taste – remember, this is the only white wine that has tannins. This is why it pairs wonderfully with various dishes, including complex and spicy ones.
Trendy, European style, aromatic, delicious!
Additionally, it’s easy to open: to preserve freshness, the wine is sealed with a convenient screw cap. An excellent choice!”.
Furmint Orange is an exclusive product of Chateau Chizay.
That this experiment is successful is confirmed by the recent award from the Ukraine Wine & Spirits Awards – 2024. Furmint Orange won the Gold Medal, becoming a record-holder in points and receiving praise from the jury.
The wine was also highly appreciated by visitors at the professional exhibition London Wine Fair, held in the capital of the United Kingdom in May.
Oleksandra Polishchuk, Vice President of Development at the company, shares:
“Our dry orange Furmint Orange received special attention from visitors. This wine, which the team dreamed of creating for several years, finally came to fruition last year and became a success – the amber wine from Chateau Chizay found its admirers and received great reviews. It is especially gratifying that this is the first orange wine made from the Furmint variety in Ukraine”.
Oleksandra confirms Vitaliy’s characterization that Furmint Orange is a more delicate style of orange wine compared to many other global samples: it is drinkable yet very interesting and multifaceted:
“The wine was appreciated for its bright aroma, balanced taste, and lightness, which is rare for the traditional concept of orange wine. It is ideal as an alternative option for orange wine enthusiasts, as well as for those who are just beginning to explore trendy orange wines, thanks to its lightness and lack of strong tannins. As our guests said, it’s an easy-drinking orange wine“.
Chief winemaker of Chateau Chizay Zoltan Udvargelyi shares his impressions:
“The decision to choose Furmint for our orange wine was influenced by the fact that in 2022, this variety was harvested late, the last of the whites, with very ripe berries promising a rich wine. Moreover, it is our special grape, our ‘highlight,’ and working with it is very interesting – it is very diverse.
Our first orange wine from the 2022 harvest, released in 2023, was more tannic and had a higher alcohol content. It was an interesting wine that many liked, but we kept searching…
For the 2023 vintage wine, we fermented the juice with grape pulp for three months, and after pressing, sent it for a relatively short rest in barrels. I aimed to create a fresher, very aromatic wine.
The Furmint Orange wine presented this spring is more delicate. Personally, I prefer this European style of orange wine – it appeals to me more than the heavier amber wines, for example, those made using the Kakhetian method.
Yes, I consider this wine a successful experiment and invite you to try it. And I promise to continue creating something special!”
We recommend discovering the unique style of orange wine with Furmint Orange from Chateau Chizay – a bright wine for bright impressions!