Meaning & use
orange wine
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Meanings
noununcountable
A type of wine made from white grapes that are left in contact with their skins during fermentation, giving a deep amber or orange color and a firmer, tangier taste.
Grammar: Usually uncountable as a drink: we ordered orange wine; countable when meaning bottles or styles: several orange wines.
Patterns
- a glass of orange wine
- orange wine from somewhere
The waiter suggested an orange wine from Georgia to go with the spiced lamb.
Orange wine can taste surprisingly tannic, almost like a light red.
She had never tried orange wine before, so she ordered a small glass.
noununcountablerare
A sweet or fruit wine flavored with oranges or made from orange juice, sold in some regions as a homemade or specialty drink.
Grammar: Much less common than the skin-contact meaning; context usually makes clear which is meant.
Patterns
- homemade orange wine
Her grandmother used to make orange wine every winter from the fruit of the backyard tree.
The shop sells a sweet orange wine meant to be served after dinner.
Word forms
| plural | orange wines |
|---|
Common combinations
- skin-contact orange wine
- We tried a skin-contact orange wine from northern Italy.
- natural orange wine
- The bar specializes in natural orange wine.
- a bottle of orange wine
- They shared a bottle of orange wine with the cheese board.
- orange wine producer
- He became an orange wine producer after visiting Slovenia.
- serve orange wine slightly chilled
- Many people serve orange wine slightly chilled, not ice cold.
Synonyms and how they differ
- amber wine
- Amber wine is another name for the same style, used especially by producers who prefer a term that does not suggest fruit.
- skin-contact wine
- Skin-contact wine describes the method rather than the color, so it is a little more technical than orange wine.
Word family
Commonly confused: orange wine or rosé?
orange wine vs rosé
Rosé is pink wine made from red grapes with brief skin contact, while orange wine comes from white grapes with long skin contact.
Practice
Why is orange wine called orange?
Choose one answer.
The color comes from leaving the skins of white grapes in the juice while it ferments. Orange fruit is not involved, which is why the first two options fail.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “orange wine”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.