TIME IN THE BOTTLE White wine changes over time. Bright citrus softens into baked apple, fresh flowers turn honeyed and nutty, and pale straw slowly deepens into gold. In Champagne, that transformation gets even more interesting thanks to lees aging (the time wine spends resting on spent yeast before release). That’s where brioche, toasted almond and pastry-like notes come from. Even non-vintage Champagne can spend years developing before it ever reaches your glass. The result feels layered, textured and luxurious. These are the bottles that shine at candlelit dinners, at holiday tables and on long fall evenings that somehow always call for bubbles. MODERN ORANGE WINES Orange wines might look trendy on restaurant lists, but the technique behind them is ancient. Instead of quickly separating the juice from the skins, winemakers leave white grapes fermenting with their skins on—just like red wine. That extra contact gives the wine its deep coppery-gold colour, along with texture, tannin and savoury flavours you don’t usually expect from white wine. Think orange peel, steeped tea, dried apricot, herbs and spice. Regions like Friuli and Slovenia helped revive the style, and orange wines are now found pretty much everywhere. They’re bold, a little wild and surprisingly great with rich fall food and charcuterie boards. EXTRA HANG TIME Some wines get their golden glow simply because the grapes hang on the vine longer. Late-harvest wines, botrytized wines and Icewines all start with fruit left well past normal picking season, concentrating sugar, flavour and colour. In some cases, noble rot shrivels the grapes and adds a honeyed, marmalade-like richness. In Icewine, the grapes freeze naturally on the vine before they’re pressed in the dead of winter. Either way, what ends up in your glass feels intensely concentrated and luxurious. These wines balance sweetness with vibrant acidity, making them feel surprisingly lively instead of heavy. A small pour goes a very long way beside dessert.
Elegant and textured, with 52 percent reserve wines, this Champagne shows baked brioche, citrus curd, toasted almond and fine bubbles layered with richness from extended lees aging.
Champagne’s golden colour
deepens naturally during long cellar aging before release.
Charles Heidsieck Réserve Champagne Brut $93.99 France 884775
This skin-contact Carricante, an indigenous Sicilian grape, offers dried apricot, orange peel, tea-like tannin and savoury spice, with textured depth and a striking amber glow. Cantine Ermes No Compromise Carricante Orange Wine $19.99 Italy 192961 Lush and concentrated, this wine shows explosive honey, apricot, chamomile and tropical fruit notes. Bright acidity keeps every intensely sweet sip beautifully balanced while lingering on your palate. Gehringer Brothers Minus 9 Ehrenfelser Icewine $60.99 BC VQA 551739 375 ml
Orange wine isn’t orange flavoured; it’s white wine
made like red wine.
Icewine grapes are
harvested when frozen, often in brutally cold overnight temperatures.
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