The third edition of the Amber Wine Festival will be held on May 25th in Trieste.
The objective of the event is to increase the knowledge of wines produced from white grapes, vinified with a more or less long stay of the must on the skins.
This traditional winemaking had practically disappeared until the 1960s until, in the mid-1990s, it was taken up again by the Gravner and Radikon who abandoned the white winemaking techniques with which they produced famous wines appreciated by the public and wine critics, to adopt long macerations on the skins.
A return to the past that shocked the market and took several years to create a following of producers and consumers passionate about the specific organoleptic profiles that were created.
Today the success of these wines is such that they are produced in all wine-growing regions of the world, to satisfy the demand of an ever-growing number of enthusiasts globally.
However, Venezia Giulia remains the cradle of this rebirth and this is why the desire to create an event in Trieste, which becomes more and more international from year to year.
But what are the peculiar characteristics found in these wines?
First of all, the color. During contact with the skins, which can range from a few days to several months, the extraction of anthocyanins takes place giving to the wine a more intense color compared to white winemaking. Hence the term “orange wines”, coined by the English wine merchant David Harvey in 2004. In reality the color varies according to the grape variety, the maceration period and the subsequent refinement period, and in general the definition of “amber wines” appears more correct, as well as more suitable for enhancing the quality of these wines.
From an organoleptic point of view, amber wines are intense, full-bodied and complex thanks to the extraction of tannins that occurs during maceration. Also in this case, the sensations that develop upon tasting depend on the maceration and refinement time, on the vines and, obviously, on the style of the winemaker. They range from fresh herbaceous notes to warmer ones of jam and dried fruit.
A sensorial kaleidoscope that can be discovered at the Amber Wine Festival by tasting the 120 wines presented by over 40 producers from Friuli Venezia Giulia, Alto Adige, Liguria, Sicily, Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Serbia, among which there will also be the “pioneers ” Gravner and Radikon.
To accompany these wine excellences there will be a selection of equally excellent local foods to allow visitors to explore the pairing capabilities of Amber Wines.
The icing on the cake is the Castle of San Giusto, which dominates the city and the gulf of Trieste from the hill of the same name, and where, thanks to the co-organization of the Municipality of Trieste, the event takes place between the medieval bastions and the Piazzale delle Milizie .
If you were already thinking of taking a trip to Trieste, the Amber Wine Festival is the right opportunity. And if you haven’t thought about it, maybe it’s time to… think again and go there anyway.
Find all the information on www.amberwinefestival.com
