![Tempranillowine](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Tempranillowine.jpg)
The color of wine is one of the most easily recognizable characteristics of
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
s.
Color
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
is also an element in
wine tasting
Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional w ...
since heavy wines generally have a deeper color. The
accessory traditionally used to judge the wine color was the
tastevin
Wine accessories are things that may be used in the storage or serving of wine. Wine accessories include many items such as wine glasses, corkscrews, and wine racks.
Glasses
Wine glasses are a type of glass stemware that are used to drink and t ...
, a shallow cup allowing one to see the color of the liquid in the dim light of a
cellar. The color is an element in the
classification of wine
The classification of wine is based on various criteria including place of origin or appellation, vinification method and style, sweetness and vintage,J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 752 & 753 Oxford University ...
s.
Color origins
The color of the wine mainly depends on the color of the
drupe
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...
of the
grape variety
This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...
. Since pigments are localized in the center of the grape drupe, not in the juice, the color of the wine depends on the method of
vinification
Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and w ...
and the time the
must
Must (from the Latin ''vinum mustum'', "young wine") is freshly crushed fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace and typically makes up 7–23% of t ...
is in contact with those skins, a process called
maceration. The
Teinturier
Teinturier grapes are grapes whose flesh and juice is red in colour due to anthocyanin pigments accumulating within the pulp of the grape berry itself. In most cases, anthocyanin pigments are confined to the outer skin tissue only, and the squee ...
grape is an exception in that it also has a pigmented pulp. The blending of two or more varieties of grapes can explain the color of certain wines, like the addition of
Rubired
Olmo grapes are wine and table grape varieties produced by University of California, Davis viticulturist Dr. Harold Olmo. Over the course of his nearly 50-year career, Dr. Olmo bred a wide variety of both grapes by means of both crossing varietie ...
to intensify redness.
Red drupe grapes can produce white wine if they are quickly
pressed and the juice not allowed to be in contact with the skins. The color is mainly due to plant pigments, notably
phenolic compounds (
anthocyanidin
Anthocyanidins are common plant pigments, the sugar-free counterparts of anthocyanins. They are based on the flavylium cation, an oxonium ion, with various groups substituted for its hydrogen atoms. They generally change color from red through ...
s,
tannin
Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.
The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'', ...
s, etc.). The color depends on the presence of
acids in the wine. It is altered with
wine aging
The aging of wine is potentially able to improve the quality of wine. This distinguishes wine from most other consumable goods. While wine is perishable and capable of deteriorating, complex chemical reactions involving a wine's sugars, acids and ...
by reactions between different active molecules present in the wine, these reactions generally giving rise to a
browning of the wine, leading from red to a more
tawny color. The use of a wooden barrel (generally
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
barrels) in aging also affects the color of the wine.
The color of a wine can be partly due to
co-pigmentation Copigmentation is a phenomenon where pigmentation due to anthocyanidins is reinforced by the presence of other colorless flavonoids known as cofactors or “copigments”. This occurs by the formation of a non-covalently-linked complex.
Examples
...
of anthocyanidins with other non-pigmented flavonoids or natural phenols (cofactors or "copigments").
Rosé wine is commonly made by the practice of
short maceration (exposing wine to red grape skins for only a short period of time in order to give it a lighter feel closer to that of white wine) or by blending a white wine with a red wine.
Color evolution
The presence of a complex mixture of
anthocyanin
Anthocyanins (), also called anthocyans, are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that, depending on their pH, may appear red, purple, blue, or black. In 1835, the German pharmacist Ludwig Clamor Marquart gave the name Anthokyan to a chemical compo ...
s and
procyanidin
Procyanidins are members of the proanthocyanidin (or condensed tannins) class of flavonoids. They are oligomeric compounds, formed from catechin and epicatechin molecules. They yield cyanidin when depolymerized under oxidative conditions.
See the ...
s can increase the stability of color in wine.
As it ages, the wine undergoes chemical autoxidation reactions involving
acetaldehyde
Acetaldehyde (IUPAC systematic name ethanal) is an organic chemical compound with the formula CH3 CHO, sometimes abbreviated by chemists as MeCHO (Me = methyl). It is a colorless liquid or gas, boiling near room temperature. It is one of the mos ...
of its pigments molecules. The newly formed molecules are more stable to the effect of
pH or
sulfite
Sulfites or sulphites are compounds that contain the sulfite ion (or the sulfate(IV) ion, from its correct systematic name), . The sulfite ion is the conjugate base of bisulfite. Although its acid ( sulfurous acid) is elusive, its salts are wide ...
bleaching
Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...
. The new compounds include
pyranoanthocyanin The pyranoanthocyanins are a type of pyranoflavonoids. They are chemical compounds formed in red wines by yeast during fermentation processes or during controlled oxygenation processes during the aging of wine. The different classes of pyranoant ...
s like vitisins (
A and
B),
pinotin
Pinotins are a type of pyranoanthocyanins, a class of phenolic compounds found in red wine. One such compound is pinotin A.Variation of pyranoanthocyanins in red wines of different varieties and vintages and the impact of pinotin A addition on th ...
s and
portosins and other
polymeric derived pigments.
Malvidin glucoside-ethyl-catechin
Malvidin glucoside-ethyl-catechin is a flavanol-anthocyanin adduct. Flavanol-anthocyanin adducts are formed during wine ageing through reactions between anthocyanins and tannins present in grape, with yeast metabolites such as acetaldehyde. Aceta ...
is a
flavanol-anthocyanin adduct
Flavanol-anthocyanin adducts are formed during wine ageing through reactions between anthocyanins and tannins present in grape, with yeast metabolites such as acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde-induced reactions yield ethyl-linked species such as malvi ...
. Flavanol-anthocyanin adducts are formed during wine ageing through reactions between anthocyanins and tannins present in grape, with yeast metabolites such as
acetaldehyde
Acetaldehyde (IUPAC systematic name ethanal) is an organic chemical compound with the formula CH3 CHO, sometimes abbreviated by chemists as MeCHO (Me = methyl). It is a colorless liquid or gas, boiling near room temperature. It is one of the mos ...
. Acetaldehyde-induced reactions yield ethyl-linked species such as malvidin glucoside-ethyl-catechin. This compound has a better color stability at pH 5.5 than
malvidin-3''O''-glucoside. When the pH was increased from 2.2 to 5.5, the solution of the pigment became progressively more violet (''λ''
max = 560 nm at pH 5.5), whereas similar solutions of the anthocyanin were almost colorless at pH 4.0.
The exposure of wine to
oxygen in limited quantities can be beneficial to the wine. It affects color.
Castavinol
Castavinols are natural phenolic compounds found in red wines.Castavinol, a new series of polyphenols from Bordeaux red wines. Chantal Castagnino and Joseph Vercauteren, Tetrahedron Letters, Volume 37, Issue 43, 21 October 1996, pp. 7739-7742, T ...
s are another class of colorless molecules derived from colored
anthocyanin
Anthocyanins (), also called anthocyans, are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that, depending on their pH, may appear red, purple, blue, or black. In 1835, the German pharmacist Ludwig Clamor Marquart gave the name Anthokyan to a chemical compo ...
pigments.
![NJ 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/NJ_2.svg)
In model solutions, colorless compounds, such as catechin, can give rise to new types of pigments. The first step is the formation of colorless dimeric compounds consisting of two flavanol units linked by carboxy-
methine
In organic chemistry, a methine group or methine bridge is a trivalent functional group , derived formally from methane. It consists of a carbon atom bound by two single bonds and one double bond, where one of the single bonds is to a hydrogen. ...
bridge. This is followed by the formation of xanthylium salt yellowish pigments and their ethylesters, resulting from the dehydration of the colorless dimers, followed by an oxidation process. The loss of a water molecule takes place between two A ring hydroxyl groups of the colorless dimers.
Colors
The main colors of wine are:
*
Gray
Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...
, as in
vin gris ''Vin gris'' () is a variant of '' rosé'' wine made from red grapes, in particular '' Pinot noir'' and ''Pinot gris''. ''Pinot noir'' is a black grape, but can also be used to make rosé or white wine. When the grapes are brought to the winery and ...
(''gray wine'').
*
Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
, as in
Skin-contact wine
Orange wine, also known as skin-contact white wine, skin-fermented white wine, or amber wine, is a type of wine made from white wine grapes where the grape skins are not removed, as in typical white wine production, and stay in contact with the ...
, a white wine that has spent some time in contact with its skin, giving it a slightly darker hue.
*
Red wine
Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties. The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice from most purple grap ...
(although this is a general term for dark wines, whose color can be as far from "red" as bluish-violet)
*
Rosé (meaning
pinkish
Pink colors are usually light or desaturated shades of reds, roses, and magentas which are created on computer and television screens using the RGB color model and in printing with the CMYK color model. As such, it is an arbitrary classificati ...
in French)
*
Tawny, as in
tawny port
Port wine (also known as vinho do Porto, , or simply port) is a Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro Valley of northern Portugal. It is typically a sweet red wine, often served with dessert, although it also comes in dry, semi- ...
.
*
White wine
White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without skin contact. The wine color, colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured Juice vesicles, ...
(light colored wine)
*
Yellow
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...
(or straw color), see for instance
vin jaune
''Vin jaune'' (French language, French for "yellow wine") is a special and characteristic type of white wine made in the Jura (wine), Jura region in eastern France. It is similar to dry fino Sherry and gets its character from being matured in a ...
, a special and characteristic type of white wine made in the Jura wine region in eastern France,
Jurançon
Jurançon (; oc, Juranson) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France.
Population
See also
*Jurançon AOC, a wine from this commune
*Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department
The followi ...
or
Sauternes.
Other:
*
Burgundy (color)
Burgundy is a dark red-purplish color.
The color burgundy takes its name from the Burgundy wine in France. When referring to the color, "burgundy" is not usually capitalized.
The color burgundy is similar to Bordeaux (#4C1C24), Merlot (#733 ...
, a shade of purplish red
*
Sangria (color), a color that resembles Sangría wine
* Ox blood, probably referring to ancient practice of fining red wines with dry powdered blood
File:Beaumes de Venise Blanc et Rosé.jpg, Glasses of Beaumes de Venise
Beaumes-de-Venise (; oc, Baumas de Venisa) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.
Name
The word "beaumes" comes from the Provençal word ''bauma'' meaning "cave" or "grotto". T ...
white and rosé
File:Copita-of-amontillado.jpg, Glass of Amontillado sherry
Sherry ( es, jerez ) is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versi ...
File:Baricelli Villa Calcinaia Vin Santo.jpg, A glass of Vin Santo
Vin Santo ("holy wine") is a style of Italian dessert wine. Traditional in Tuscany, these wines are often made from white grape varieties such as Trebbiano and Malvasia, though Sangiovese may be used to produce a ''rosé'' style known as "Oc ...
with its characteristic amber color
The color amber is a pure chroma color, located on the color wheel midway between the colors of yellow and orange. The color name is derived from the material also known as amber, which is commonly found in a range of yellow-orange-brown-red ...
File:Beringer White Zinfandel.jpg, Beringer White Zinfandel
White Zinfandel is an off-dry to sweet rosé wine. Originally the result of a stuck fermentation and fortuitous accident, White Zinfandel is made from the Zinfandel wine grape that would otherwise produce a bold and spicy red wine.
White Zinfa ...
Scientific color determination
The
International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) provides methods to assess the color of a wine using a
spectrophotometer and the calculation of indices in the
Lab color space.
OIV web site
/ref>
See also
* Glossary of winemaking terms
This glossary of winemaking terms lists some of terms and definitions involved in making wine, fruit wine, and mead.
A
;Acetaldehyde
: The main aldehyde found in wines, most notably Sherry.
;Acetic acid
: One of the primary volatile acids in wi ...
* Wine (color)
The color wine or bordeaux, vinous, vinaceous, is a dark shade of red. It is a representation of the typical color of red wine.
The first recorded use of ''wine'' as a color name in English was in 1705. The term "bordeaux" is also sometimes u ...
or burgundy (color)
Burgundy is a dark red-purplish color.
The color burgundy takes its name from the Burgundy wine in France. When referring to the color, "burgundy" is not usually capitalized.
The color burgundy is similar to Bordeaux (#4C1C24), Merlot (#733 ...
, the color of red wine
References
External links
Wine color on www.wine-tasting-guide.com
{{portal bar, Drink
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
Oenology
Color
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
Wine styles
Color in culture