How Wine is Made

Red | White | Rose

How Red Wine is Made

When red wine is made, both seeds and skins are left in the juice during fermentation. Red wine gets its color from the skin of the grapes. Along with color, grape skins also impart flavor and texture into the wine - tannins are a good example of this. You won't find tannins in white wine, but you will in red because of the skin contact fermentation. Thinner skinned grapes, such as Pinot Noir and Gamay, produce lighter colored wines and less tannic wines. We can expect these wines tpyically to be light red and fairly clear in color. On the other hand, thicker skinned grapes, such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, produced deeper, darked colored wines. These wines not only will be darker in color, but will also have more tannic structure - thus producing a bolder wine.

How White Wine is Made

Contrasting red wine, white wines are made by fermenting only the grape juice, leaving the stems and skins out of production. White wines are typically made from white grapes, but can be made from red grapes as well, because all grape juice is white in color. Remember that the skins are what impart the color to red wine.

Sometimes, white grapes will be fermented with a bit of skin-contact. This will yield what is called an "orange wine." Orange wines are a type of white wine that will also yield a bit of tannic structure - similar to red wine. Orange wine is a whole new category on it's own, and I won't delve into too much detail here.

How Rose is Made

Rose is wine that can be made from red or white grapes, though red is most common. Typically, rose is made by allowing red grapes to macerate with skin contact for a shorter period of time than is common with true red wine. Think 6 - 48 hours for rose as compared to 6 + months for red. The longer the wine is in contact with the skins, the richer the wine will be.

There is an additional way that rose can be made, and it is most common with rose champagne. Blending white and red wine post fermentation is normal practice for rose sparkling wine. In fact, blending red and white wines post fermentation is prohibited in Europe, save the region of Champagne.