Ramato is a special skin-fermented white wine, or what many are now calling an "orange" wine. Ramato refers to the old Friulian style of fermenting Pinot Grigio on its skins, thus creating a coppery-colored wine (in fact the Italian word “Ramato” refers to the copper color). All the Pinot Grigio fruit (from both our home farm in Bridgehampton and the Mudd West Vineyard on the North Fork) for our Ramato was hand-picked, handled minimally, fermented on its skins (with wild /ambient yeast) in small bins for sixteen days and raised in older French and Slovenian oak puncheons (large 500L barrels) for four months.
Not only is the wine alluring and delicious to smell and taste but the Channing Daughters Ramato possesses an absolutely gorgeous color to admire...star-bright and somewhere between electric orange and burnished copper. There are aromas and flavors of honey, brown spices, dried apricots, pear skin, tropical citrus, baked apples, caramel and peaches. The wine has balanced acidity, only 12% alcohol, medium-plus body and great persistence of flavor on the finish. This dry, exotic, textured and aromatic wine falls somewhere between a white and a red but does not fit neatly into the pink category, thus the “orange”.
Pair Ramato with hard cheeses, charcuterie, fish, chicken and pork preparations that include spices, nuts, grains or squash. Exotic, lightly spiced and earthy foods will work marvelously with this wine. The 2021 Ramato will also be a great addition to the table year-round with its cornucopia of savory and sweet aromas juxtaposed by dryness and complex texture. This is an exceedingly delicious and exciting wine that yearns to be seen, smelled and tasted.
