Wine made from white grapes with extended skin contact, termed orange wine, has experienced a recent growth in popularity, bringing attention to this method of wine production. The extended skin contact impacts not only the color of the wine, but also its flavor and mouthfeel properties. This study aimed to gain insight into consumer preference for this growing category, and to understand what specific properties consumers are drawn to. Results from a survey of 150 industry experts were contrasted with a Conjoint Analysis choice experiment determining consumers’ implicit feelings on orange wine. Following this, an orange wine and a white wine harvested from the same vines, on the same day, from the same vineyard block were compared using descriptive analysis, to isolate the sensory effects of skin contact. These data were compared with consumer testing of liking of these wines, in addition to engineered orange wine with manipulated color and astringency, to determine if consumer viewpoints from the survey aligned with in-person sensory tests. The consumer survey identified price and production method as the most important factors in orange wine selection, followed by dryness. The industry experts survey highlighted production method, price, and color as key factors. Consumer in-person sensory testing showed no significant preference between pale and deep orange engineered wines, suggesting that color mattered less to consumers than experts assumed. Descriptive analysis revealed significant differences between orange and white wines, highlighting fruity and sweet attributes in the white wine, and vegetal, vinegar, and allium attributes in the orange wine. These differences were underscored in consumer testing, with significantly higher liking scores for the white wine lacking the extended skin contact. These findings help contextualize the evolving consumer perception of orange wine. While external factors like price and production method remain influential in purchase decisions, the sensory experience still plays a meaningful role in overall enjoyment. Understanding that consumers respond more to how the wine tastes than how it looks challenges some industry assumptions and highlights opportunities to refine product development and communication strategies. As the orange wine category continues to grow, aligning sensory quality with clear, compelling messaging around production and value will be key to building lasting consumer interest.