One of the Best Orange Wines for 2025 Comes from Maryland
What is one of the best orange wines to buy in 2025?
According to VinePair, Old Westminster Winery Terracotta 2023 belongs on that list.
VinePair named Old Westminster Winery Terracotta 2023 one of The 25 Best Orange Wines for 2025, giving the wine a 95 point rating and calling it a stunning example of skin contact wine from Maryland’s pioneering Old Westminster Winery.
For anyone looking for one of the best orange wines in America, this bottle is worth knowing. It’s textured, aromatic, balanced, food friendly, and grown from the belief that Maryland wine belongs in the national conversation.
Old Westminster Terracotta 2023 Named One of the Best Orange Wines for 2025
Old Westminster Winery Terracotta 2023 is a skin contact white wine made from Pinot Blanc and Muscat.
VinePair highlighted the wine for its elegance, balance, texture, and layered aromatics, noting flavors of honey, grapefruit, fennel, anise, and clotted cream. The review praised the palate for its balance of lively acidity, vibrant fruit, and a touch of tannin.
That’s what makes Terracotta special. It has the freshness of white wine, the structure of skin contact fermentation, and the savory complexity that makes orange wine so compelling at the table.
What Is Orange Wine?
Orange wine, also known as skin contact white wine, is made by fermenting white grapes with their skins.
Most white wines are pressed quickly, separating the juice from the skins before fermentation. Orange wines spend time on the skins, which gives the wine more texture, color, aroma, and structure.
The result can be floral, savory, citrusy, herbal, tannic, grippy, and deeply food friendly.
Terracotta is our expression of that idea: a Maryland grown skin contact wine with lift, texture, and balance.
How Old Westminster Terracotta Is Made
Terracotta 2023 is made from 90 percent Pinot Blanc and 10 percent Muscat.
The Pinot Blanc undergoes 21 days of skin maceration in amphorae, giving the wine texture, structure, and depth. The Muscat is direct pressed, adding aromatics, brightness, and floral lift. Both wines are aged on the lees for 10 months before bottling.
That process creates a wine that feels layered without being heavy. The amphorae and skin contact build texture. The lees aging adds depth. The Muscat brings energy and perfume. The Pinot Blanc keeps the wine grounded and elegant.
It’s an orange wine built with intention, not gimmick.
What Does Terracotta Taste Like?
Old Westminster Terracotta 2023 is savory, aromatic, textured, and bright.
Expect notes of:
Honey
Grapefruit
Fennel
Anise
Clotted cream
Citrus peel
Fresh herbs
A lightly grippy finish
The wine is balanced by lively acidity, vibrant fruit, and a gentle touch of tannin. It’s expressive and serious, while still being incredibly drinkable.
This is the kind of orange wine that can win over both curious beginners and people already deep into skin contact wines.
Why This Recognition Matters for Maryland Wine
For years, many people didn’t think of Maryland when they thought of serious American wine. That’s changing.
Old Westminster has helped push Maryland wine into the national conversation through thoughtful farming, creative winemaking, and nationally recognized bottles. Terracotta being named one of VinePair’s best orange wines for 2025 is another proof point.
It joins a growing list of national recognition for Old Westminster, including our Rosé 2025 being named VinePair’s number one rosé for 2026, Terracotta 2023 earning a 95 point rating on VinePair’s Best White Wines for 2026 list, our Malbec being named one of VinePair’s 50 Best Wines of 2025, and Old Westminster being named a finalist for VinePair’s American Winery of the Year.
Together, those moments tell a clear story.
Maryland wine belongs.
A Serious Orange Wine for the Table
Terracotta is built for food.
The texture, acidity, aromatics, and light tannin make it one of the most versatile wines on the table. It can handle dishes that many lighter white wines can’t, while still staying fresh and lifted.
Pair Terracotta with seafood, roast chicken, pork, wood fired vegetables, sourdough pizza, spicy noodles, soft cheeses, charcuterie, grain bowls, mushrooms, salads with herbs, or anything with citrus, fennel, ginger, or spice.
It’s a bottle that can carry a whole meal.
Is Orange Wine the Same as Natural Wine?
Not exactly.
Orange wine refers to the winemaking style: white grapes fermented with skin contact. Natural wine refers more broadly to farming and winemaking choices, often including native yeast, minimal additives, and a lighter touch in the cellar.
Terracotta sits comfortably in the world of thoughtful, low intervention wine. It’s made with serious intention, careful technique, and respect for the fruit.
The goal isn’t to make something weird. The goal is to make something honest, expressive, and delicious.
Where Can I Buy Old Westminster Terracotta?
Old Westminster Winery Terracotta 2023 is available directly from Old Westminster Winery while supplies last.
The best ways to find it are:
Visit Old Westminster Winery in Westminster, Maryland
Shop online through Old Westminster Winery
Join the wine club for priority access to limited releases
Look for select restaurant and independent wine shop placements
VinePair listed the average price at $36, making it a serious but approachable bottle for orange wine lovers, dinner parties, restaurant lists, and anyone curious about Maryland wine.
One of the Best Orange Wines for 2025 Is Maryland Grown
So, what are the best orange wines to buy in 2025?
Old Westminster Winery Terracotta 2023 belongs on that list.
It’s a 95 point skin contact white wine from Maryland, made from Pinot Blanc and Muscat, aged on the lees, and praised by VinePair for its elegance, balance, texture, and savory complexity.
For us, the recognition is bigger than one bottle. It’s another signal that Maryland grown wine can be serious, expressive, creative, and nationally relevant.
One of the best orange wines for 2025 comes from Maryland.
And we’re proud to share it.
Plan Your Visit
Old Westminster Winery is located in Westminster, Maryland, on our family farm in Carroll County. Join us for Maryland grown wine, wood fired food, private cabanas, vineyard views, and a wine experience rooted in farming, hospitality, and serious winemaking.
Come taste why Maryland wine belongs in the national conversation.