When you hear the word wine, what color do you think of?
Is it bright red wine? Or a clear white wine? Or maybe a pretty pink rosé wine?
You probably already know that wine comes in red, white, and rosé colors.
But where does the difference in color between red, white, and rosé wine come from?
Also, did you know that the color of wine is not simply red, white, or rosé, but there are many ways to express it, and it is a very deep world?
First, let's take a look at how the three basic wine colors are created.
Differences in color between red, white, and rosé wine
The color of wine is determined by two main factors.
The first is the color of the skin of the grapes used in the wine.
The second difference is the winemaking method (how wine is made).
Let's take a closer look at how each wine is made, focusing on these two points.
How to make red wine
Red wine is made using grapes with dark red skins called black grapes.
The red color of red wine comes from the purple components of the skins of black grapes that color the grape juice.
When eating grapes for food, many people peel the skins and throw them away, but the grape skins play a very important role in the production of wine.
Grape skins contain pigments called anthocyanins, which give wine its color when it attaches to grape juice.
The peel also contains tannins, which cause bitterness. This is why red wine feels more astringent than white wine.
These anthocyanins and tannins are collectively called polyphenols.
Many of you may have heard that polyphenols are good for your body.
In addition to grape skins, grape seeds also contain this polyphenol.
Polyphenols are also found in the skin of white grapes, but they are much higher in black grapes.
Red wine is made by crushing black grapes with their skins and seeds, mixing them with fruit juice, and fermenting them for about 10 to 20 days.
By doing this, pigments and tannins are extracted from the grape skins and seeds, creating red juice.
In other words, you cannot make red wine from white grapes.
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-Red wine is made from black grapes
- Red wine is made by fermenting grape skins and seeds together with fruit juice.
How to make white wine
Next is how to make white wine.
When you hear white wine, you may think that it is made from white grapes, but in fact, white wine can also be made from black grapes.
For example, the main grape varieties used in everyone's favorite Champagne are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier.
Chardonnay is a white grape, while Pinot Noir and Meunier are black grapes.
It can be made from any of these three varieties or a blend of them.
Why is Champagne white even though it is made from black grapes?
(Champagne also comes in rosé, but we will explain rosé later.)
In fact, you can make both red and white wine from the same black grape by changing the winemaking method.
When making white wine, unlike red wine, the grape skins and seeds are first removed from the fruit juice. In other words, after pressing and crushing the grapes and squeezing the juice from the grapes, white wine is made by fermenting only the juice without using the skins or seeds.
Black grapes have black skin, but the fruit and juice are not black, right?
Therefore, by separating the fruit juice and the skins and fermenting only the fruit juice before the red grape skin pigments are added to the fruit juice, it is possible to make white wine without the red skin color.
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-White wine can be made from both black and white grapes.
・White wine is made by removing the skins and seeds and fermenting only the fruit juice.
So far, we have explained that if you remove the skins and seeds from black or white grapes and ferment only the juice, you will get white wine, and if you use black grapes and ferment the skins and seeds together, you will make red wine. did.
So how is rosé wine, which has a pink color between red and white, made?
How to make rosé wine
Rosé is a French word that means rosy or pink, and as the word suggests, it has a lovely pink color.
Rosé wine, like red wine, is made from black grapes. Rosé wine cannot be made from white grapes.
There are several ways to make rosé wine, but they can be broadly divided into three types: ``methods made the same way red wines are made,'' ``methods made the same way white wines are made,'' and ``methods made by blending.'' Masu.
Made using red wine brewing methods (saigner method/maceration method)
This is the most common method of making rosé wine.
Just like when making red wine, the skins and seeds of the grapes are soaked together with the juice.
However, the difference with red wine is that the marinating time is shorter.
While red wine is marinated for an average of 10 to 20 days, rosé wine is marinated for a shorter period of time, ranging from a few hours to 4 days.
If you remove the skin and seeds from the fruit before it becomes completely red, like red wine, you will get a pink juice.
By fermenting this extracted fruit juice, rosé wine can be made.
This method is called the Saigner method.
Rosé wine made using this saignée method has a relatively deep pink color.
In regions such as Bordeaux, where many red wines with a strong flavor are produced, this saignée method was originally used not to make rosé wine, but to make red wine with a rich flavor.
During maceration (marinating the fruit juice, skin, and seeds), some of the fruit juice is removed, and the remaining juice is further macerated with the skin and seeds to create a fruit juice that contains more tannins and anthocyanins, and has a richer flavor. Because it can produce red wine.
In other words, rosé wine is also a byproduct of producing dark red wine.
By-products have the image of being an added bonus, but since red wine made using this method is often a high-quality wine made using high-quality grapes, rosé wine, which is a by-product made from the same grapes, also has potential. It is highly likely that this is the case, so it cannot be underestimated.
There are also many cases where this method is used to make rosé wine from the beginning, rather than as a by-product of red wine.
By the way, depending on the textbook or article, the method used to make red wine as a by-product may be referred to as the ``Saigner method,'' and the method used solely to make rosé wine may be referred to as the ``maceration method.'' .
Made using the white wine brewing method (direct pressing method)
Next, it is made using the same brewing method as white wine.
First, the black grapes are pressed and the skin and seeds are removed to extract the juice. At this time, a slight pigment comes out from the skin of the black grapes. This slight amount of pigment produces a pale pink juice. This pink fruit juice is fermented to make rosé wine.
This method is called direct pressing because it uses the pigments that are released when the grapes are directly pressed.
Rosé wines made using the direct pressing method have a lighter pink color than those made using the Saigner method.
Made by mixing black and white grapes (mixed brewing method)
While the saignée and direct pressing methods use only black grapes, the mixed brewing method uses both black and white grapes.
The brewing method is the same as the saignée method, in which black and white grapes are mixed and marinated together with the skins and seeds, and once the color is just right, the juice is extracted and fermented.
There are not many rosé wines made using this method, but Germany's Rotring rosé wine is famous for being made using this method.
Making by mixing red wine and white wine (blending method)
The blending method is a method of blending already-prepared red and white wines to create rosé wine.
Many of you may have experienced that when drinking wine at home, if you poured white wine without washing the glass after drinking red wine, the wine turned pink.
In fact, this method of making rosé wine is basically prohibited under European wine laws.
However, there is one exception: only Champagne produced in the Champagne region of France is allowed to make rosé wine using this blending method.
Most Champagnes are created by blending dozens of base wines to adjust the taste. This blending of multiple wines is called assemblage.
When making rosé wine from Champagne, rosé wine is created by blending white wine and red wine during this assemblage. Therefore, the method of making rosé wine from Champagne is called the assemblage method.
In addition to the assemblage method, maceration is sometimes used to make rosé wine from Champagne.
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There are three main ways to make rosé wine.
- How to make red wine (saigner method/maceration method)
- How to make white wine (direct pressing method)
- Made by mixing black grapes and white grapes (or red wine and white wine) (mixed brewing method/blending method)
So far, we have explained how to make red, white, and rosé wine.
I mentioned that the shade of color of rosé wine changes depending on how it is made, but in reality, the color of red wine and white wine also differ depending on several conditions.
Let's take a closer look at what conditions change the color of wine.
Color changes depending on grape variety
Even red and white wines have different shades depending on the grape variety used.
red wine grape varieties
For example, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir are typical varieties used for red wine.
Cabernet Sauvignon is a grape variety native to the Bordeaux region, and is characterized by its thick skin and firm tannins, producing wines with rich astringency. Therefore, the color is very dark and is described as blackish purple.
On the other hand, Pinot Noir is a grape variety commonly grown in the Burgundy region and is often compared to Cabernet Sauvignon as a grape variety with opposite characteristics.
Red wine made from Pinot Noir is relatively pale in color and is often described as a bright ruby color.
white wine grape varieties
The difference in color in white wines is less pronounced than in red wines, but there are still differences depending on the grape variety.
For example, Koshu, which is known as a grape variety unique to Japan, is quite colorless, with a pale yellow color with a slight green tinge.
By comparison, Chenin Blanc, which is commonly grown in France's Loire region, is darker in color when the grapes are more mature, varying in color from bright yellow to golden tones.
Colors change depending on cold and warm regions
The color of the wine changes depending on how much sunlight the grapes receive.
The more the grapes are exposed to sunlight, the more they ripen and the pigment on their skins becomes darker.
Conversely, when the amount of sunlight is low, the color of the grape skins becomes lighter.
As a result, wines made from grapes grown in warmer regions tend to be darker in color, such as red, almost black, or bright yellow.
Wines made from grapes from colder regions often have a vibrant pale ruby color or a youthful greenish-yellow color.
Even within the same wine made in the same region, wines made in colder years tend to be lighter in color and flavor, while wines made in warmer years tend to be darker.
This is why many wine lovers care about vintage.
However, please note that the darker the color, the better the wine.
Color changes as it matures
Wine is a very mysterious drink whose appearance and taste change over time.
Just as people grow as they age, wine also changes over time and as it ages.
Changes in the color of a wine can be used to determine whether the wine is young, mature and ready to drink, or has passed its peak.
Color change due to aging of red wine
The general characteristics of red wine are that it has a purplish color when young, and as it ages, it becomes more yellowish, and then gradually changes to a brownish color.
The color of each wine varies depending on the grape variety and brewing method, but in general, young red wine is reddish-purple, ripe red wine is garnet or ruby-colored, and as it ages, it becomes orange. The color changes from red-orange to reddish-brown (brick color).
Color change due to aging of white wine
In the case of white wine, one indicator of changes due to aging is the intensity of yellowness.
When the wine is young, the color is pale yellow-green, greenish-yellow, or pale yellow, but as it ages, the yellow hue becomes stronger, and the color changes to gold, topaz, or amber, and if the wine is aged too much, it becomes yellow-brown. It will change to etc.
Color change due to aging of rosé wine
Like red and white wine, rosé wine changes color as it ages.
However, there are not many aged rosé wines on the market, so you may not have many chances to see them.
Rosé wine has a purplish-pink color when young, and then changes to cherry pink, orange-pink, salmon pink, etc.
However, not all wines become more delicious as they age, so it is important to determine the best time to drink the wine.
Enjoying this change in color due to aging is one of the great pleasures of wine.
The color changes depending on the brewing method.
As I briefly touched on in how rosé wine is made, the shade of color changes depending on the brewing method.
Regardless of whether the wine is red, white, or rosé, the longer the maceration period (the time the wine is soaked with the skins and seeds), the darker the color will be.
The color also changes greatly depending on whether or not barrels are used during brewing. Even young wines that are vinified and aged in barrels may have a darker tone.
In addition, the color varies depending on the alcohol content, concentration of the grapes, and the health of the wine.
In this way, the color of wine is formed by a complex combination of various factors.
You can enjoy wine even more if you don't just look at it as a red, white, or rosé wine, but also look closely at the specific color characteristics of each color of wine. Sho.
Next time you drink wine, be sure to pay close attention to the color of the wine.
