Do you like organic wine and craft beer? Do you live in Leyton? Get your orders delivered the next day!

E10 postcodes are joining our free next day delivery radius. Any order over £25. 7 days a week.

We want to make organic, headache-free wine accessible to even more of our customers and our neighbouring borough has been on our radar for a little while. We have excited to be able to expand our services. All orders placed before midnight will be automatically dispatched the next day. You can also select for your delivery to arrive later (please use the comments section on the checkout page).

Next time you will see our electric cargo bike in Leyton, lovingly named the Forest Flyer, you can be sure our carbon-free deliveries are in your area! 

Next time you are searching for the best independent wine shop near me, simply head to our website.

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What to expect this week?
OPENING HOURS
Earlier closing, but mostly business as usual
Wed 4-9pm
Thu 4-9pm
Fri 4-9pm
Sat 12-9pm
Sun 12-6pm 
BAR
Will be closed until further notice.
Takeway wine and beer only.
NO CASH
We will be only accepting card payments (including Amex)
DELIVERY
Local DAILY non contact bike deliveries as per usual
All our wines and beers are available via the website
And next day nationwide courier

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We’ve been bringing in loads of new fun and funky wines to our range lately, and that has included several orange wines (much to Sophia’s delight). This style of wine was originally introduced to our blog in this post “Orange Peel Ain’t Real”. For more on the history of orange wine, give it a quick read.

To recap on the basics though, orange wine is usually white wine made like a red wine – sort of.

This will make more sense when I mention that another name for orange wine is ‘skin contact’ white wine. All red wine is made with skin contact; that is, the grape skins are left on during the fermentation/maceration process. This is what gives red wine its gorgeous colour. White wine, on the other hand, usually is processed with the skins removed, which is how its look is so light and clear. Following?

So, leave the skins on the white grapes for a bit (a few hours, days, or weeks depending on what vibe the winemaker is going for) and voila! You have a lovely orange wine. They range from a light gold to bright orange, amber, or even rosy pink. The range in flavour is even wider, so don’t expect a simple answer if you ask: “So what does orange wine taste like?”. It’s like asking how white wine or red wine taste: how much time do you have?

But here’s an overview of some tasty examples, and reasons why orange wine is often my go-to choice.

One box that I find orange wines tend to tick is for the people who want something chilled, but aren’t massive fans of how bright/light/acidic white wine is.
The option for that is our new Croatian Bolfan Aromano. Delicately aromatic, notes of apricot, peach, melon, and a vague aroma of almond, all unfolding into an extremely elegant wine.

Or how about this dilemma: you only drink white wine, but your dining/drinking partner lives and dies by red wine (or vice versa). You’re splitting a bottle, and you’ve already ruled out rosé. The solution is an orange wine. It has enough body, flavour and tannin to satisfy the red wine drinker, but not so much that it will put off the white wine fan (plus it’s chilled).
My favourite Vinessens Benimaquia Tinajas. A lovely aromatic wine with zesty orange peel notes that linger alongside the spice and tannin from whole-bunch maceration. 6 months spent aging in earthenware vessels make this a pretty complex and layered wine. It would work as an aperitif, but also great with stir fry or mature cheeses.

Another group that tends to enjoy orange wines might come as a surprise: beer drinkers! Particularly for those who enjoy sours, tarts, saisons, lambics, Mother Rock Brutal is for that person you know who claims to know nothing about wine but wants to dip a toe in the wine pool for a break from their usual beer order. It’s got a decent body, with tangy acidity and fragrance to keep your sour beer fan happy. I highly encourage you to have it with some spicy food, Lean fish, or soft cheese.

Orange wines are also stellar for pairing with really full-flavoured food: that is where I think they really shine.

If we’re talking major umami or anything really fatty, I would recommend our Italian Baglio Bianco, which has some serious cider flavours going on. Think apples and pears with the skins left on – perfect for your pork loin, smoky sausages, mushrooms, or roast chicken. Alternatively, try the Liquid Skin from our South African friends at Mother Rock. It’s got a nice bite from being fermented whole-bunch (meaning all of the stems and twigs and tiny branch bits are in there with the grapes), making this peachy, chunky orange wine much more full and tart than some of our other offerings. It’ll cut right through the fatty meats or oily fish you’re cooking.

For anything with chilli, orange wine is my go-to for beating the heat. It’s chilled, keeping us refreshed when the heat levels get us sweating or excusing ourselves to blow our noses. And these wines often have so much texture, tannin, or body from the skin contact that they can really hold their own when drunk with foods that would have your dry Sav. Blanc or delicate Chenin tasting like water.

Honestly, I think any of the above would be delightful with your hotter, spicier meals. I would also add our Slovakian offering from Slobodne, the Cutis Pinoter. The Cutis Pinoter brings all of the perfume to the party: it is flowery, peachy, fresh, and clean. A serious contender for your pre-meal drinks, or better yet for something with a bit of chilli.

Now, if all of this is sounding a bit overwhelming and you’re worried that you might need a more gradual introduction to orange wines, do not despair! We have some sneaky skin contact whites that you wouldn’t necessarily realise are orange wines without a bit of reading or chat about them.

For those orange wine beginners among us, we have the La Blanca, Krasna Hora from the Czech republic. With just a touch of a golden hue, this field blend with good acidity and lovely texture. Skin contact or no, it’s an exquisite white wine for any occasion. Another front runner in this category is the Tragolargo Blanco, Casa Balaguer Vinessens. Great value natural orange wine. A glorious golden colour with flavours of citrus fruits, rich honey and mineral tones with a long and elegant finish.
The final option is our Calcarius Nu Litr Orange. Vibrant orange in colour, and tasting as good as it looks. Excellent freshness, some grip, but not to a challenging amount. Easy to like, and in a litre format!

Feel free to come chat about orange wine in the shop – happy to gush about how delicious it is any day. And if you’re apprehensive about committing to a whole bottle without knowing what you’re in for, be on the lookout for it on the wine list next time you’re out for a meal!

My suggestion?

If you see it as an option by the glass somewhere, ask for a taste! They’ll almost always be happy to let you try a little bit before ordering since they want you to enjoy whatever you order. Even if you don’t end up buying a glass (or a bottle) you can try new and exciting orange wines to get a feel for how different and tasty they can be.

If you’ve tried something new in the world of skin contact wines, let us know your thoughts next time you’re in the shop! We’d love to hear your orange wine stories.

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In part two of this consideration of early winter wine, we can move into more familiar territory: reds.

I say more familiar, because red wine is typically what most jump to after the first jacket-worthy day. If you think you have abandoned white wine for this season, read the last post to see how you can keep white wine in your life as the nights get longer.

So! It’s chilly, it’s gloomy, and we start to lean on our room temperature offerings to warm us up and keep up with the heavier foods we start indulging in this season. Winter is coming here. But! We’re not in the thick of it quite yet. We need to save our heaviest hitters for the icy tundra of January and February. In the interim, we need something with a little more heft than we had when we could still expose our arms at night.

Here are some red wines from our range, for when we all start to wish we had fireplaces in our little London homes:

Cabernet Sauvignon
Bodega Cecchin, 2015 - Mendoza, Argentina

This Cab is herbal and lean, with slightly smoky aromas. It has a leathery, earthy flavours, making it an excellent pair for your steak and mushroom creations, or for plates littered with roasted root vegetables. This is not a particularly fruity Cabernet, so anything with some decent umami flavours or sweet/savoury earthy qualities is what we’re after with this wine.

Carignan/Grenache/Syrah
Joan d’Anguera Planella, 2015 - Montsant, Spain

A nice complex blend from the east coast of Spain, this opens up with a fragrant, almost fruity liqueur scent. It has a very plush texture, with even more fruit and some spice on the finish. Nice and rich, but not too heavy. This would be lovely with those extra savoury, meaty dishes. Another option would be to pair it after dinner with some punchy, funky cheese to finish off the night.

Sangiovese
Rosso di Caparsa, Azienda Agricola Caparsa, 2016 - Tuscany, Italy

An excellent medium bodied red, reminiscent of a Chianti Classico. It is fairly fresh and silky, for when it’s approaching frosty, but not totally frigid outside. It has a gorgeous balance of dark red fruit with spice, making it a nice food wine, but not so overbearing that it couldn’t be a pre-dinner option. Scents are more leathery, woody, and floral. This Sangiovese is a nice partner for meaty pasta dishes, charcuterie, essentially anything meaty but not too heavy. Pre-hibernation wine.

Shiraz/Mataro
Adelina, Shiraz Mataro, 2015 - Clare Valley, Australia

Do not be deceived by the grape varieties in this Aussie red: it is decently light for a Shiraz. In this 100% hand-picked wine, the bright red fruits (cherries, raspberries, etc.) balance the time it has spent in old oak. The tannins are subtle but present, and this red can keep us in denial of the decreasing numbers on the thermostat. Close the blinds and pretend it’s still early autumn with this one. Some nice grilled or roasted mushrooms and sausages would go very nicely with this Shiraz, as would a beef stew or pie. Let it lift up your savoury food and your seasonal affective disorder.

Cinsaut
Ou Treffer, 2016 - Stellenbosch, South Africa

Cinsaut is a South African classic when it comes to wine, and this one comes in strong. Nice crunchy fruit brighten up this very structured red. It’s been fermented whole-bunch, with all the stems and skins and leaves bringing that spice and tannin. A very versatile food wine, you could even lightly chill this red. If you do, try it with some spicy seafood for dinner. If you’re keeping it room temperature, it would be excellent with richer meats, like duck or lamb. This will be a nice one to treat the family to when you’re showing off your culinary skills (or your ability to navigate Deliveroo extremely well).

These reds, plus the whites we already discussed (Did you read it? Get on it!), should be a nice starter kit for this turning weather. As it gets colder, these wines should help warm you up — but won’t jump the gun for when you need something even bigger for the new year. If you need more inspiration, come say hey and chat in the shop. Enjoy, friends.

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