Wine Predator Gwendolyn Alley with amphora in Portugal
Question: When is a red wine more like a white wine— complete with chewy tannins? Answer: When it is an amber wine or orange wine! These wines with their typical golden color are made using the ancient technique of leaving a white grape on the skins for an extended period of time — long enough to gain a distinctive color. Often this is combined with another ancient technique of fermenting, aging, or storing the wine in large clay vessels with different names depending on the country of origin:
in Portugal as Talha
in Italy as Anfore, orci or giare
in Georgia as Qvevri or kvevri
in Spain as Tinaja
And in English, Amphora! Happy Amphora Wine Day! Georgia, “the cradle of wine,” is the original home for using these large clay vessels which they call qvevri. In 2023, we tasted and paired three with Georgian cuisine a few days before I left for Portugal’s Amphora Wine Day which in 2025 is today November 15, and to celebrate this year, we have three more amber wines from Georgia, with two of them made in qvevri or kvevri .
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 