Kind of Orange
Kind of Orange
Skin-contact Viognier with 3 weeks of carbonic maceration. Electric apricot color with aromas of peach, mandarin, and lychee. A chewy, refreshing orange wine.
At a Glance
- Origin: Santa Cruz Mountains, California
- Varietal & Type: Orange Wine (Skin-Contact White)
- Vintage: 2024
- ABV:
- Vineyard Soil: Sandy loam and clay
- USNW Classification: Natural
Tasting Notes & Pairing
- Profile: Skin-contact white with amber hues, dried fruit, and textural grip.
- Food Pairing: Mediterranean cuisine, aged cheeses, rich fish dishes
- Serving Temp: 50-55°F
About the Winemaker
Florèz Wines, founded in 2017 by James Jelks in Corralitos, Santa Cruz County, California, is a boutique natural wine producer creating technically accomplished, site-specific wines from organic and dry-farmed vineyards across California.
James Jelks was born in Santa Cruz and raised in Davis, California—home to one of the world's most prestigious viticulture programs. After attending UC Davis Viticulture & Enology, he spent a decade working in wineries worldwide, including a formative experience at Louis Latour in Burgundy in 2014. That global training—from Burgundy to California, traditional houses to natural wine projects—shaped his rigorous but minimal-intervention approach. In 2017, he established Florèz in a retrofitted apple cold storage building, creating wines that combine old-world discipline with new-world terroir. A 2020 James Beard Award Semi-finalist, Jelks's woodcut labels by tattoo artist Drew Nelson are as distinctive as the wines themselves.
Farming & Cellar: James personally farms several vineyards including Blue Jay and Alaya in the Santa Cruz Mountains—organic, dry-farmed, no-till. Additional fruit comes from partner growers sharing his philosophy, including German Soto's Hunter Hill Vineyard and the historic Enz Vineyard in Lime Kiln Valley. All wines employ native yeast fermentation, no additives except minimal sulfur at bottling for some cuvées (10-20 ppm), and never any fining or filtration. Techniques vary by cuvée—carbonic maceration, whole cluster, direct-press, skin-contact—but the common thread is precision in service of lightness and drinkability.
US Natural Wine ships once a week, every Wednesday. All orders should be placed by Tuesday at noon in order to be picked up from our distributors and out on Wednesday's delivery truck.
Shipping cost is 35 bucks a box (up to 12 bottles) so we highly encourage picking up more than 1 bottle for the best value! Remember, all orders over $200 get FREE SHIPPING!
At $35, shipping cost is on par with most wine ecommerce. Ultimately, we eat the cost of shipping more often than not because wine can be damn heavy. We can't thank you enough for your understanding!
