By Nature's Hand

Photo by Johnny C.Y. Lam
At Trail Estate Winery, Mackenzie Brisbois has been experimenting with orange wines since 2015. While she started with extremely small batches, she now produces larger quantities of skin-contact Riseling and Gewurztraminer.
In Trail Estates' pét-nat, nothing can be added and not much can be taken away. Since these wines go directly from tank to bottle, filtering is a no-go; the yeast has to stick around to convert the last of the sugars. The result is a wine that is hazy and occasionally murky, but uniquely delicious.
"It seemed like such a waste to get rid of the skins so early,” says Colin Stanners (above) of Stanners Vineyards, speaking of making orange or skin contact wines. “It’s pretty hard to grow grapes here in the county and there are a lot of flavour compounds in the skins.”
With Pinot Gris, the aim is usually to keep it as neutral and light as possible. Stanner goes the alternate route, embracing all that the grape has to offer, building a huge aromatic lift and depth.