Wine of the Week: London Art Fair week inspired

Wine of the Week: London Art Fair week inspired.

This weekend I missed Frieze and the Affordable Art fair due to appointments looking at unaffordable taps.

 Adulting hit hard.

I therefore gave myself a mission… to discover a wine which had artistic flair – in its creation and packaging – and which would make me look at a wine style in a new way.

The Discovery:
Oranje Cape White, Stormhoek, Cape White, South Africa £14.50 @majesticwine

An Orange wine?

 Before you freak out, I am not usually a fan of this style having tasted too many dodgy kombucha like versions. This Orange wine however is crystalline in purity – not something your neighbor could have made in their garage.

What is it?
It is made 100% from the Viognier grape.  Its orange colour, gorgeous aromatics and fantastic structure is the result from leaving the juice of these white grapes in contact with the grape skins for an extended time.

How does it taste?
The gorgeous hazy apricot and orange blossom perfume invites you in and then on the palate expect baked apricot, kumquat jelly, more orange blossom and a delicious revivifying savoury acidity.  It’s also only 12.5% which I was not expecting given its exuberance.

Why this wine for London Art fair week?
Well, the label alone is enough to stop you in your tracks. But it also made me view Viognier in a new way. I adore viognier but I had never appreciated how using extended skin contact, this wine is an amped up version of all the grape’s aspects which I love.

I ADORED how my orange wine prejudices were proven wrong and my mind was reeling with all the different dishes it would be fantastic with – from butternut squash risotto to Ottolenghi style cuisine.

And surely this is what good art or craftmanship is meant to do? It is meant to enlarge our minds, defy stereotypes and be true to itself… not something created for a gimmick or a trend. It is meant to get conversations going and this bottle for me is exactly that, a conversation starter wine.