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What Do You Know About Enrobed Wine?

 

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Disclaimer: This post includes wines received as a sample. All opinions are my own.

Enrobed wine…this is a new term for most of us, wine professional, dilettante, and novice alike. No, it does not mean that the wines you’ve been drinking have all been naked. But it does kind of mean that this style of wine is wearing some fancy clothes. As someone not at all opposed to a fabulous kaftan here and there, I am here for it! 

Beyond being extra dapper, what is enrobed wine? I’m so glad you asked. 

What Is Enrobed Wine?

I hadn’t heard of enrobed wine until last year, but apparently, it’s been around since (at least) 2007. The first case seems to have come from North Carolina winery, Green Creek Winery. That year, the winery debuted a Chardonnay Rosso, a “red” Chardonnay” which simply flew off their shelves. 

In the 1990s, Washington State winery, GLM Wine Co. (which has a much better website than Green Creek) was struck by a similar inspiration, but it wouldn’t be until 2009 that they introduced their enrobed Mars wines. Initially completely unaware of the Chardonnay Rosso being made on the other side of the country, GLM did its research and gives Green Creek the credit its due for being the first to actually get there (if not for having the idea).

So, these folks had the idea and made it, but that still doesn’t answer the question: what is enrobed wine?

Simply put, it’s white wine that has been passed through red wine skins. 

You can use any combination you like of white and black grapes. Although ideally you would consider the characteristics of each and try to find complimentary grapes. For this (new?) style, you start with the black grapes. Crush the grapes and remove the juice from the skins to make a rosé, but hang onto those skins! With the white grapes, you might give them a little more skin contact that you normally would for a white wine in order to extract more flavor and phenolics. Now it when things get different. You crush the grapes and remove the juice…but add it to the black grape skins so the white juice and black skins ferment together. 

To make an Enrobed wine, any combination of red and white grape varieties can be used. The grapes are crushed, and all the red grape’s juice is removed from the skins and fermented like a white wine, to produce a pink rose wine.

Transition – so why am I talking about enrobed wine today? Because of Akberg.

Akberg

Akberg winery already had a long history in Turkey before the 2020 vintage that put it on the map.

Located in Gökçealan, İzmir, a stone’s throw from Ephesus, one of the country’s most impressive archeological sites, Akberg has for years produced but fruit wine and aromatized wine, bot popular products in Turkey, under multiple labels, the most well-known being Vincent Şirince. Then in 2020, under the leadership of  new owner Güney Köse, chairman and chief wine sipper (as he calls himself!), partnering with winemaking consultant Gülçin Akçay, Akberg changed direction into quality wine production.

Their first cooperation created the Büyükbağ series; a label that not only heralded the company’s shift into quality wine, but also perfectly encapsulated its new philosophy. Büyükbağ means “large vineyard”, and reflects Akberg’s vision of working with independent growers across the country. The winery feels strongly about preserving a grape’s native terroir, rather than trying to force them to grow in alien lands. As such, Akberg sources grapes from all over the country. Narince from its home in Tokat, Papazkarası from Thrace, Çalkarası from Çal, and so on. Part of Akberg’s new journey also includes the preservation and revitalization of Anatolia’s ancient grapes. As such, it was the first winery to give us wines from previously unknown grapes like Osmanca, Erciş Karası, and Kecimen.

With Güney at the helm, Akberg is also pushing the boundaries of Turkish wine with new styles and technology. Güney has a ton of energy and likely a touch of ADHD. His facile mind jumps from one project to the other. While some of the things he’s proposing at Akberg are fascinating, I imagine he drives his staff, especially his head winemaker Ergün Güney, a little crazy. One of those ideas was to make an enrobed wine. Güney did a little research himself and learned that, while he wasn’t the first to have the idea and make the wine, he is certainly the first in Turkey to do so.