Matias Morcos Naranjo 2023

Winery – BARRIALES, EAST MENDOZA; VINEYARDS – MONTECAsEROS, eL RAMBLON, ALTO VERDE, EAST MENDOZA

As we say elsewhere on this site, we are far from hook, line and sinker when it comes to ‘orange wine’. But this skin contact wine has everything we are looking for – the quirky complexity that can be found from this technique but also, crucially, fresh aromatics and varietal expression. Here’s a wine that will make you smile, with its aromas of candied orange peel and runny honey, and hints of exotic flowers; it almost seems to have a hint of botrytis on the nose. The wine is completely dry with flavours of dried citrus fruits and raisins, medium-bodied and floral on the end. Utterly delicious. Happily we can notch up another Criolla family member here with Moscatel Rosado, even if it is not officially recognised as such, yet. The wine is indeed a lovely rose pink colour in the glass. Definitely not orange!