Maris, Vin de France (France) Muscat Blanc à Petit Grains 2021

 Hopefully, orange wines – white grapes with skins in the game – will find a place in the rainbow of wines, and not as a novelty, a rarity or, as is too often the case, someone’s awestruck testimonial to wines “the way they once were made.”  There is nothing noble or praiseworthy in a wine that was made before we had little sanitation other than sulfur, no way to blend large volumes of wine except in the field, no temperature controls and brett beyond belief.  That said, a well-made orange wine – no matter the propaganda that surrounds it – is quite enjoyable, as this one is.  It is pleasantly bitter, with peppery orange and other citrus flavors and with very floral aromas and tastes, is mostly dry and is a touch petillant with a crisp finish.  In many ways, it is like a very nice aperitif, and that is how I would drink it, chilled over ice.