Bonny Doon, Le Cigare Orange, Central Coast, California, USA 2024

Bonny Doon’s winemaker Randall Grahm has triumphed again here (the Bonny Doon red and white at Tesco are also great buys). This mélange of Grenaches Blanc and Noir, Pinot Gris, Orange Muscat and Chenin Blanc is orange wine lite – orange wine for the mainstream, but delicious. The grape varieties were picked and fermented separately and the juice given around 15 days skin contact before blending. Fairly pale in colour for an orange wine, it’s fruit forward with aromas and flavours of peach and apricot, exotic fruit like kumquats, orange peel and soft spice. There’s a hint of pleasant bitterness and a little of the tannic grip that makes orange wine such a good gastronomic wine. Try it with simply grilled lamb chops. Vegan.