Orange wine is white wine made like a red — fermented with the grape skins for days or weeks. PAMEC Winery in Old Town Temecula is the only producer at scale in the Temecula Valley AVA making orange wine, with their amber Vermentino as the flagship.
If you’ve never had orange wine — also called amber wine or skin-contact white — you owe it to yourself to taste one before you write it off. It looks like apple cider, smells like a wine you’ve never had, and pairs with food in ways most whites can’t. In Temecula there’s exactly one producer making it as a flagship: us.
This guide explains what orange wine actually is, why people are excited about it, and where to try it. For the wider Temecula picture, see our complete guide to Temecula wineries.
What Orange Wine Is
Orange wine is white wine made like a red wine. Instead of pressing the juice off the grape skins immediately (the way most whites are made), the skins are left in contact with the juice for days, weeks, or sometimes months. The skin contact extracts color, tannin, phenolic structure, and a whole different set of aromatic compounds. The result is a wine that’s amber to deep orange in color, with flavors most white-wine drinkers have never encountered.
The technique is ancient — it’s how white wine was originally made in Georgia (the country) thousands of years ago, fermented in clay qvevri vessels buried in the ground. The modern revival started in northeastern Italy and Slovenia in the 1990s and has since spread globally. California producers are still relatively few. In Temecula, we’re the only one.
What It Tastes Like
Orange wine doesn’t taste like other wine, and that’s the point. Common flavor descriptors include dried apricot, orange peel, black tea, tobacco, hazelnut, sourdough, and a faintly bitter finish. The texture is the most surprising part for first-time drinkers — there’s grip and tannin you don’t get in normal white wine, much closer to a light red than to a Sauvignon Blanc.
Some orange wines are clean and approachable; others are funky, oxidative, and aggressive. There’s no single “orange wine” style — there’s a spectrum. The best ones balance the textural grip with enough fruit and acid to feel alive rather than tired.
Where to Try Orange Wine in Temecula
PAMEC Winery
We make our amber Vermentino with several weeks of skin contact, fermented wild in stainless and bottled with minimal sulfur. The result is a hazy, deep-amber wine with apricot, orange peel, and a clean salty finish. We pour it from our Old Town tasting room Thursday through Sunday. It’s the only orange wine made at this scale in the Temecula Valley AVA — we know because we’ve looked.
If you want a guided tasting, ask for the white-to-amber comparison: we’ll pour our clean Vermentino next to our amber version, both made from the same fruit. The two wines side by side make obvious what skin contact does to a white. It’s the most useful 10 minutes of wine education we can give a curious drinker.
Curated Wine Bars in Temecula
A few wine bars in Temecula carry imported orange wine on their by-the-glass or bottle list. The supply changes constantly. Ask whoever’s pouring; serious sommeliers in the valley will steer you to whatever’s open.
Pairing Orange Wine
Orange wine’s structural weight (tannin from the skins) makes it pair with foods that would crush a normal white. Practical pairings:
- Cured meats — prosciutto, salami, jamón. The tannin handles the fat.
- Aged cheeses — particularly hard and pungent cheeses
- Mediterranean food — Lebanese, Turkish, Moroccan. Orange wine handles cumin, sumac, and tahini better than most whites.
- Indian food — particularly with cream and spice. Orange wine cuts through both.
- Korean BBQ — the umami in the meat resonates with the wine.
- Mushroom dishes — the earthy notes echo the wine’s tea-and-tobacco profile.
Common First-Time Reactions
People who taste orange wine for the first time tend to land in one of three places:
- “I don’t know what this is.” — Most common. The flavors don’t fit the usual mental categories for “white wine.” Sit with it for a minute and try it with food.
- “This is amazing.” — Common with people who already drink natural wine, who’ve traveled in Italy or Eastern Europe, or who like funky beers.
- “I don’t think this is for me.” — Also fine. Orange wine is polarizing on purpose.
If you’re a curious drinker, our amber Vermentino is a good starter — it’s on the cleaner, more approachable end of the spectrum. We pour smaller pours of it specifically so first-timers can taste without committing.
How to Serve It
- Slightly cooler than red wine — 55–60°F is ideal. Too cold and the tannin gets harsh.
- Use a wider glass — a Burgundy bowl or a wide white-wine glass shows the wine better than a flute.
- Decant the longer-skin-contact versions — heavily extracted bottlings benefit from 20–30 minutes of air.
- Drink with food — orange wine on its own is interesting; with food it’s compelling.
Plan Your Visit
If you’re in town and want to try orange wine, walk into PAMEC Patio in Old Town between 3–8 PM Thursday or Friday, or noon to 8 PM Saturday or Sunday. Ask for the amber Vermentino. We’ll pour you a tasting flight that includes the comparison white. Bring a curious palate.
Plan Your Visit to PAMEC
PAMEC Winery is a natural wine producer at 28522 Old Town Front St, Suite 3, Temecula, CA 92590. We pour Vermentino, Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Cabernet Franc, Rosé and amber/orange wines from our patio tasting room in Old Town. Hours: Thursday and Friday 3–8 PM, Saturday and Sunday 12–8 PM.
Reserve a tasting for your group, or see all the practical details on our Visit Us page. Questions? Call (951) 845-8001 or email info@pamecwinery.com.
