Winemaking: why is wine red or white?
However, winemaking, along with the choice of container type and the materials used, are the fundamental elements in the production of both red and white wines.
Red Wine Vinification
What differentiates red wine vinification from white wine is the maceration process—the contact between the grape skins and the must, which imparts color and tannins to red wine.
This type of vinification requires a longer maceration time compared to, for example, rosé wines, which are produced by allowing the skins to macerate for a much shorter period.
The red winemaking process can be summarized in a few key steps:
- Harvesting the grapes
- Destemming and crushing
- Must with grape skins
- Fermentation with maceration
- Various corrections and stabilizations
Once this phase is completed, the red wine moves on to the aging (refining) stage, which can be done in different ways. To obtain a full-bodied, structured red wine, wood barrels such as tonneaux or barriques are used for a specific period, depending on the desired style of wine.
READ ALSO: Vine reproduction: techniques and life cycle
The final step is bottle aging, which further refines the wine before it reaches the market.
White Wine
Unlike red wine, white wine vinification involves eliminating certain processes and introducing others. The main difference lies in fermentation, which in white wine does not take place in contact with the grape skins.
The skins are removed almost immediately through gentle pressing of the grapes. Afterwards, the usual treatments and adjustments are made to the must, which is then fermented at a lower temperature than red wine—typically around 18–20°C (64–68°F).
To obtain a white wine with more personality, a brief skin contact maceration (no more than a few hours) can be performed. This allows the extraction of pigments and aromatic compounds from the skins, enriching the flavor and complexity of the wine.