A Bargain Orange Wine

Here is another bargain wine I spied when I was distracted while shopping for peanuts or chips. The Puppet is labeled as a Skin Contact Wine from the Central Coast, 2024 vintage. It "boasts the fragrance and elegance of a white wine with the texture, richness and depth of a red wine." The label offered a relative wealth of information, a nice surprise for a bargain wine. 

This array of grapes was fermented on the skins for 10 days, which is where the pink color originates. The grapes were grown in American Canyon, in southern Napa County. They are 33% Grenache Blanc, 25% Pinot Gris, 17% Pinot Blanc, 15% Chenin Blanc, 6.5% Grenache Gris, 2% Orange Muscat, and 1.5% Vermentino. That’s quite a roster, there. Alcohol hits only 11.5% abv and the cashier rang up $8 at Trader Joe's. 

The name, by the way, seems to come from the drawings of hand shadow puppets that adorn the label. It seems a curious way to catch the eye, but it worked.

This wine has a nice, rich color. It’s orange in copper kind of way. The nose is somewhat muted, but traces of cherry, lemon, tangerine, and peach are in there. The palate has a fresh acidity and centers the flavors on citrus minerality. It is a hearty rosé, and one that will pair nicely with a variety of meats and cheeses. 

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A Good Cigare Is A Wine

The Bonny Doon Vineyard Le Cigare Orange 2022 is labeled, unofficially, as "skin contact wine of the earth." The orange color comes from fermenting white wine grapes on their skins, which has become a fairly trendy trick for winemakers in recent years. 

The "le cigare" in the name refers to the French term for UFO. The back label tells an abbreviated version of the story about legislation put on the books in the Rhône Valley back in the 1950s. The law banned UFOs from landing in the vineyards. It appears to have worked.

This orange wine was made from 44.5% Grenache Blanc grapes, 25% Pinot Gris, 14% Grenache Gris, 9.5% Orange Muscat, and 7% Chenin Blanc, all grown in a handful of Central Coast vineyards. Le Cigare Orange is vegan friendly and gluten free, carries alcohol at 11.5% abv and cost about $12 at my neighborhood Whole Foods Market. 

This wine has a beautiful salmon orange color, quite brilliant. The nose displays the stone fruit and citrus one might expect from a white wine, but also a boatload of cherry and strawberry aromas. There is a lovely tangerine citrus note that comes after swirling the wine. Stone fruit dominates the palate, but with a considerable salinity over it, the kind of savory attraction for which winemaker Randall Grahm has made his calling card. 

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