Westwell Ortega Skin Contact Ortega 2025

Stuart McCloskey, tasted 10 November 2026 “A glorious summer dreamboat. One of the most exciting textural English whites we've tasted. First things first. Please don't pull the cork, pour a glass and rush to judgement. This wine deserves a little patience, a little air and, ideally, a decanter. My recommendation is to decant for around 15 minutes, placing the decanter over ice to keep the wine beautifully chilled. Then sit back and watch the transformation. With a little oxygen, the bouquet begins to unfurl into something quite magnificent…

Warm, sun-ripened apricots come tumbling from the glass, followed by golden honey, candied orange peel and the delicate perfume of citrus blossom. There is something wonderfully evocative about the aromatics - the scent of an orchard on a warm summer afternoon, apricots almost bursting with ripeness, a little wild honey, orange zest and the faintest suggestion of dried herbs carried on the breeze. A gentle, exotic warmth runs through the bouquet, yet everything remains beautifully fresh, lifted and inviting. Crushed, fresh fennel seeds are unmissable with more airtime…

The palate is textural, grippy, wonderfully expressive and impressively long. The skin contact lends a deliciously tactile quality, a gentle phenolic tug that catches the sides of the tongue and gives the wine a sense of structure. There is a lovely interplay between ripe orchard fruit, citrus oils, delicate savoury notes and a fine, almost tea-like grip. Apricot and orange peel return, accompanied by a subtle honeyed richness, a suggestion of fennel and an attractive herbal freshness. The acidity cuts cleanly through the richer flavours, keeping everything energetic, precise and beautifully balanced.

And the finish? Long, persistent and utterly moreish. Those lovely citrus oils and gentle tannins linger, accompanied by a faintly savoury, mouthwatering quality that positively begs for another sip. It is a wine that rewards contemplation but, equally, one that I could happily drink over a long, leisurely summer lunch.

A personal observation...

Those who know my palate will appreciate that I tend to favour skin-contact whites with a little more extraction, deeper colour and a more pronounced tannic structure. Personally, I would happily have taken this wine further in that direction. I discussed this with Adrian, who explained that Westwell is consciously searching for the sweet spot between those who enjoy a lighter, more approachable expression of skin-contact winemaking and those, like me, who prefer something a little more adventurous, structured and deeply coloured. It's an interesting balancing act, and I completely understand the thinking. What Adrian has achieved is a wine that retains genuine texture, personality and character without becoming too challenging for those discovering skin-contact wines for the first time.

My advice? Buy it now, but don't be in a hurry to drink it.

The 2025 vintage was only bottled in August, and although it is already showing beautifully with a little air, I believe there is considerably more to come. A few additional months in bottle should allow the different elements to settle, integrate and develop greater harmony. Personally, I would set a few bottles aside until spring or summer 2027. I suspect the reward will be considerable. Imagine a beautifully chilled decanter on the garden table, the warmth of a summer afternoon, good food and absolutely no reason to be anywhere else. This is precisely the sort of wine that makes me excited about the future of English still wine.

My prediction? This will be one of the finest textural English white wines to enjoy in 2027. And one final point worth mentioning. Westwell's Ortega Skin Contact has a habit of selling out remarkably quickly at the winery. We've admired it for years, but this is the first time we've managed to secure an allocation (I even drove over myself to collect our stash!). Served using Zalto universal however, my next bottle will be poured into the Burgundy stem (perhaps the better choice).”