Culmina adds an orange wine

Photo: Culmina's winery on The Golden Mile

In 2020, Culmina Family Estate Winery made its first orange wine, joining the small but growing number of producers entering this category. There will be consumers out there who will ask why. These cerebral wines seem to be a great favourite with sommeliers. It is debatable how popular they are with the average consumers who prefer wines that please the palate, not test it. Of course, one should not avoid the opportunity of tasting something new and different. Many consumers have developed a taste for olives or kimchi – or even vegemite. One never knows. Orange wines are not made from oranges. They are made by fermenting white wines on the skins and seeds. The wines usually pick up colour from the skins, along with tannin and slightly bitter flavours recalling steeped tea.

While these wines are relatively new in the portfolios of contemporary wineries, there is a tradition for such wines going back thousands of years to Georgia. The Georgian winemaking style of fermenting and aging on the skins in buried pottery jars has been making a comeback. You might ask why since, with modern winemaking technology, wines can be made that are clean and fresh. As you might guess, I am not a fan of drinking intellectual curiosities when I can drink wines whose flavours are more easily appealing. Having said that, I do not think that J-M Enixon, Culmina’s winemaker, has been burying pottery jars in the winery’s vineyard. This orange wine is clean and drinkable. There is nothing weird going on here – other than the decision to make an orange wine in the first place.

Here are notes on the current releases.

Culmina Dilemma 2017 ($31 for 825 cases). This is 100% Chardonnay matured nine months in French oak barrels (28% new); 20% of the wine was matured in stainless steel. Only 30% was allowed to undergo malolactic fermentation. The result is a wine with aromas of vanilla and orange. The palate is fresh and fruit forward, with complexing notes of butter, apricot and orange. The finish lingers. 92.

Culmina Saignée 2020 ($24 for 500 cases). Five varietals were bled for the juice to make this delicious, if fashionably pale, rosé. The blend is 48% Cabernet Franc, 17% Syrah, 15% Malbec, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Merlot. It begins with wild strawberry, apple and watermelon. The palate is packed with fruit, echoing the aromas plus orange and pink grapefruit. The bright acidity gives this wine a crisp, refreshing finish. 93.

Culmina No. 013 Orange Wine Gewürztraminer 2020 ($25 for 150 cases). This wine was fermented 67 days on the skins in stainless steel and with indigenous yeast. The slight haze in the appearance suggests the wine is unfined. The aroma is dramatic, with a rush of spice which the winery suggests is juniper mingled with grapefruit. It has flavours of orange and dried apricots, with a salty note on the finish. 90.

Culmina No. 014 Wild Ferment Rosé 2020 ($29 for 150 cases). This is a blend of 60% Cabernet Franc, 25% Malbec and 15%. It was produced with a combination of saignée and direct pressing. The juice was allowed just two hours of skin contact, producing a delicately-hued rosé. It was fermented with indigenous yeast and aged for 61 days (70% in stainless steel, 30% in neutral oak). It has delicate aromas of strawberry and watermelon which are echoed on the juicy palate. The texture gives the wine a satisfying finish. 92.

Culmina Syrah 2018 ($42 for 150 cases). The wine begins with aromas of plum, fig and black cherry mingled with vanilla. These are all echoed on the palate along with classic notes of black pepper. The long, ripe tannins add elegance to this full-bodied red. 93.

Culmina Hypothesis 2016 ($46 for 900 cases). The blend is 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec and 1% Petit Verdot. The wine was aged 16 months in French oak (33% new, 37% one year old, 30% two or more years old. The wine begins with aromas of cassis, black cherry and sweet tobacco. Long, ripe tannins give the wine a polished texture to show off the flavours of dark cherry, blackberry, black currant, plum and mocha. This is Culmina’s flagship red, built to age like a fine Bordeaux. 92.