Color

The color of a wine can range from clear to pink to golden to brown, and from pale red to garnet to purple. The difference between the two categories of colors, red and white, is based on what happens in the wine-making process. The spectrum of colors beyond that basic pair has to do with the quality and the age of the wine.

The color of a wine is not based on the color of the grape; instead, it depends on how long the skins were kept on during the fermentation process, if at all.

Red grapes make red wines when the juice is allowed to ferment with the grape skins. The duration of the fermentation with the skins is proportionate to the depth of color the red wine will take on. A short amount of time will lead to a pale red or even blush wine. A long amount of time will lead to a dark garnet wine. If the juice of a red grape is fermented without contact with the skin, then the resulting wine will be white.

White grapes are almost never fermented with the skins on, because there is no benefit to the added pigmentation from the skins. So white grapes will yield white wines.

The color of a wine can help determine the quality and age of the wine. A pale or orange-red color may indicate that the red wine is old and has lost most of its tannin (a required element for wine preservation). A deep red color suggests a bold, full-bodied flavor. A brownish white color implies that the white wine has been aged. A clear white wine signals freshness, and a golden-colored white wine denotes sweetness.