Winkler-Hermaden's very orange Gewürztraminer

Winkler-Hermaden's Gewürztraminer Orange crossed my horizon after it triumphed in the 2016 Pogusch Weinkost - an annual competition for Styrian wines.

Almost every week, Simon selects an orange wine (a white wine made with extended skin contact) that grabbed his attention. View the whole series here.   

"This is a family business" is a tired phrase when it comes to marketing, but it applies in spades to Winkler-Hermaden. No less than ten family members collaborate at this winery and hotel, in East Styria, Austria. The region's nom de guerre, Vulkanland, is also highly appropriate. The winery perches on top of an extinct volcano, in the village of Kapfenstein. See the rather medieval graphic on their labels.

Their Gewürztraminer Orange 2013 crossed my horizon after it triumphed in the 2016 Pogusch Weinkost - an annual competition for Styrian wines, run by local newspaper Die Kleine Zeitung and judged at the Steiereck (Widely hailed as Austria's best restaurant).

Winemaker Christof Winkler-Hermaden, one of the younger family members, explained the backstory: "The orange hype started at the end of the 2000's in Austria. We tasted a lot an…