I didn't mean to.
I picked this Pinot Grigio from Long Island's Channing Daughters because I wanted a white wine to go with the pasta dish I made (salmon and asparagus in a tomato base). When I poured this wine, I was in shock.
It was orange. Almost copper.
I was still feeling the aftermath of being positively deranged from Anfora's orange wine exuberance when I picked up the corkscrew last night and... here I go again: an orange wine from around the corner flows into my glass.
Copper, actually. The Ramato had a clear, gorgeous copper color. Quite like the color of the wine label, actually.
The Pinot Grigio grapes from both the Channing Daughters' home farm and their Mudd West vineyard on the North Fork were hand-picked and fermented on their skins for 11 days. They then matured in old Slovenian and French oak for six months. The term "ramato" apparently refers to an old Friulian tradition of fermenting Pinot Grigio on its skins. A quick look at Channing Daughters' wine list shows that winemaker Christopher Tracy likes to explore in the cellar.
Back to the Ramato: the aroma is quite perfumed and spicy. First there is red apple, but it turns into more dried fruit as the wine breathes and warms up.
The wine is dry. The alcohol and acidity are pleasantly balanced at a medium level. The wine has a touch of tannins but it is otherwise somewhat shy on the palate, with only a medium(-) intensity of grapefruit and herbal flavors and a medium length.
The Ramato is an unusual wine and considering that Pinot Grigio in general often is as complex as a glass of tap water I wish that all Pinot Grigio were made in the Ramato style.
Also from Channing Daughters:
Over and Over Variation Four
2008 Meditazione
2008 Sauvignon