Seville Orange Wine: What it is and where to drink it

I love orange wine. It’s so sweet, so Spanish, and so delicious—there’s no better aperitif! It’s something you need to try when you’re in Seville, so check out my foodies guide to all things orange wine below!

If you’re a person, you probably like mimosas.

Even if you’re one of those blokey, beer-before-breakfast-and-breakfast-is-bacon types, I know you harbour a secret love of orange juice in your fizzy wine. We know it’s true, and it’s O.K. This is a safe space.

But what if I told you that Spain had its own version of the orange and white wine combo? And not only that, but that it’s even more delicious than the mimosa you’re glugging down for Sunday brunch!

It might sound like heresy, but that’s because you haven’t tried vino de naranja—Andalusian orange wine.

What is Seville Orange Wine?

If you’ve had orange wine before, it won’t have been like this.

Ask most wine lovers if they’ve had an orange wine, and they’ll assume you’re talking about the other one. In most countries, ‘orange wine’ means a white wine made with lots of skin contact. Leaving the grape juice on the skins and seeds means the finished wine has a deep orange or amber colour. Thus: orange wine.

But in Seville and the rest of southern Spain, orange wine is different.

How to Make Spanish Orange Wine

Firstly, what’s with the name? Although we call vino de naranja a Seville orange wine, it actually comes from down the road in the province of Huelva.

Huelva is famous for orange wine. In fact, to be called orange wine, it must be made here! As with Spanish olive oil and Spanish ham, this is a tightly controlled substance.

An official Denomination of Origin (D.O.) regulatory board controls how and where orange wine can be made. If you make it in the right way, you can add an official Vino Naranja del Condado de Huelva label to the bottle.

So why do we call it a Seville orange wine? Well, it’s the oranges!

To make a vino de naranja, you take a sweet white wine from Huelva. Put that wine in a massive oak barrel, and mix in the peel of some Seville bitter oranges.

These bitter orange trees cover the south of Spain, and their fruit is the most disgusting thing ever grown on trees. They are so bitter, so sour, and so gross that really there’s not much you can do with them apart from make marmalade and flavour wine.

In the same way that you make sherry, the wine goes through a process of fractional blending. That might sound fancy AF, but just means it gets mixed about a bit. At the end of each year, the winemakers fill their bottles from the barrels, leaving about 30% left in the tub.

They top it up with younger wine from a barrel that wasn’t ready to bottle, and then top that up with even younger wine from another barrel! The result is a balanced wine that tastes the same each year, with some nice aged flavours to boot.

What does Vino de Naranja Taste Like?

When orange wine is good, my god is it delicious.

When orange wine is bad, you had better believe that it’s gag-inducing. The combination of super sweet wine and orange can end up tasting like cough syrup when made badly or served too hot, so check out my tips below on where to go for a good one.

Because when it’s good, it’s very good. The sweet wine is heady and honey-like, and the perfumed orange aroma and citrus flavour takes you to some sort of smell paradise.

It’s the perfect aperitif, served chilled or over ice alongside some nutty Spanish cheese.

Where to Drink Orange Wine in Seville

While you’ll see orange wine served all around Seville, there are plenty you should avoid. The medicinal, cough syrup wines aren’t hard to find, and even good ones can be bad when served too warm.

Try a good version of orange wine, served chilled or over ice, at:

• La Goleta (Calle Mateos Gago, 20). With a great view of the Cathedral from its outdoor tables, it doesn’t get much more sevillano than this! La Goleta serves the original orange wine, from the winery that first invented it in 1770. It’s one of only two bars in the city to sell it!
• Taberna Quitapesares (Plaza Padre Jerónimo de Córdoba, 3). And this is the other bar! Quitapesares also sells that 18th century orange wine, with a rustic tavern setting.
• Maestro Marcelino (Calle Hernando Colón, 9). This modern deli serves their slightly sweeter orange wine straight from the barrel! Pair it with the cheese platter for a taste sensation.

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Looking for other Spanish aperitifs to enjoy with your tapas? Check out my guide to drinking vermouth in Seville.

Got your own favourite places for drinking orange wine in Seville? Let me know if I’ve missed it! And for all your other foodie needs, head to my ultimate guide to where to eat in Seville.