Troebel Wijnen
Optimbulles - Orange 2025
Optimbulles - Orange 2025
Couldn't load pickup availability
The Wine & The Maker
Winemaker: Maxim Geunis / Wijndomein Optimbulles
Region: Haspengouw, Belgium
Grapes: Chardonnay & Sauvignon Blanc
The Story
The name doesn't exactly leave much room for confusion: this is simply Orange. Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc from Haspengouw spend around four weeks on their skins before fermentation continues in stainless steel. No oak, no amphora and no elaborate construction around it. Just two white grapes being treated a little more like reds.
That approach fits Optimbulles rather well. Maxim Geunis and his family work on a small scale and keep intervention in the cellar to a minimum: spontaneous fermentation, no fining and no filtration. Grapes are harvested by hand, while the vineyards are farmed without herbicides or insecticides and with an increasing focus on biodiversity and regenerative agriculture.
Sauvignon Blanc is particularly fun in this format. Instead of staying purely fresh, green and aromatic, extended skin contact gives it far more grip and structure. Chardonnay brings some extra breadth alongside it. The result is orange wine in the way we like it: clearly macerated, without feeling as though it was made simply to be as extreme as possible.
The Vibe & Tasting Notes
Juicy and aromatic, with ripe yellow fruit, citrus and a savoury, slightly herbal edge, followed by the gentle tannic grip you'd expect after almost a month on the skins. Fresh enough to remain very drinkable, but with considerably more structure than your average white. Serve lightly chilled and don't limit it to aperitif duty: grilled vegetables, richer fish dishes, soft cheeses or a table full of small plates will all work nicely.
How does it work?
How does it work?
Images are for illustration purposes only. The actual wines in each box may vary.
A box with the amount of bottles of your choosing delivered every month on the first week. The theme changes monthly. One month you get wines from Hungary, some months all oranges, some months... who knows!
Pause or change your subscription at any time. Going on holiday and want to skip a month? No problem. Got excited after trying out a 1-bottle box and want to go for the 3-bottle box next? No problem!
Why natural wine costs more, and why it’s worth it
-
No shortcuts
Growers who refuse pesticides and chemical additives accept that they’ll lose a significant part of their harvest to weather, disease, and unpredictable nature, but they do it to keep their wines pure, alive, and honest.
-
Risk and loss
Nature swings between plenty and scarcity; frost, hail, heat and ferments can erase volumes, fewer bottles must carry the farm’s costs, with ageing measures adding expense to keep the wine clean and true over time.
-
Integrity and handwork
Hands replace chemicals: they weed, manage canopies, pick, and sort by hand; presses and gravity moves protect texture, while cleanliness and patient ageing deliver purity without shortcuts, increasing labor but preserving integrity in every bottle.
