Red wine

Details

Designation for a wine made from dark (blue to black) grape varieties. Red wine has a greater proportion of phenols such as resveratrol and a smaller proportion of acids than white wine. The colour comes from the anthocyanins contained mainly in the berry skins of dark grapes (i.e. not in the pulp). After destemming (removal of the grape skins) and light crushing, the classic maceration usually takes place in combination with a correspondingly long maceration period. Fermentation together with the skins and pulp extracts the colourings and tannins from the grape skins and seeds. Alternative or complementary processes include autovinification, carbonic maceration (carbonic acid mashing), mash heating, red fermentation and overpumping.