The "color" of Wine Is Not That Simple!

Content

Are there only two types of wine: red and white?

Does the color of the bottle have anything to do with the wine?

The darker the red wine, the better it is?

Speaking of wine, in daily life, people like to call it "red wine" for convenience and highlighting its characteristics. But this is just one of the colors of wine. What should we do if we encounter "white" wine? Let's call it "white wine", but it's tiring to read these four words. Let's call it "white wine", but this word is occupied by strong liquor that burns the throat. Sometimes, if you are used to saying "red wine" and "white wine", you will make a fool of yourself when ordering wine in a restaurant.

When you go to a restaurant for dinner, the professional waiter will ask, "Do you want a red wine glass or a white wine glass?" You hold a bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and want to share it with your friends, so you excitedly answer, "White wine glass." As a result, a plate of "three-cent cups" for Chinese white wine is served. If you drink from this small cup, you will have to drink 50 or 60 glasses of a bottle of white wine.

Are there only two types of wine: red and white?

Of course, wine is not just red and white. In fact, red and white are just two colors. If you are sensitive enough to color, you can see a colorful world in the color of wine. From a macro perspective, wine is generally divided into three colors: white, pink and red.

In addition to giving drinkers a "slightly tipsy" feeling, the winemaker's biggest wish is to let people feel the environment in which the grapes grow and taste the flavor of the grapes when they are picked. The color of the wine also reflects the color of the grapes themselves to a certain extent: from light white grapes to dark red grapes similar to blackcurrants, these are probably all the colors that wine can have in nature.

When professional wine critics evaluate wine, they usually write down the following color scale: lime, lemon, gold, amber, brown, orange, yellow-red, pink, black tea, pomegranate, ruby, purple. It sounds beautiful, right? If you collect all the wines of these colors, put them in a glass in a row, and put them on a white background with plenty of natural light, it really looks like a rainbow.

When professional wine critics evaluate wine, they usually write down the following color scale: lime, lemon, gold, amber, brown, orange, yellow-red, pink, black tea, pomegranate, ruby, purple. It sounds beautiful, right? If you collect all the wines of these colors, put them in a glass in a row, and put them on a white background with plenty of natural light, it really looks like a rainbow.

Does the color of the bottle have anything to do with the wine?

In addition to the color of the wine, estate owners also put their wine into bottles of different colors in order to make their wines more marketable. You should know that in the earliest times, the colors of wine bottles were almost all dark green and dark brown. This was to prevent natural light from directly shining on the wine and affecting the quality of the wine.

Later, some winery owners who were able to produce wines with pleasing colors switched to transparent glass bottles in order to make their products more conspicuous in the market. For example, the golden-yellow sweet wines from the Sauternes region of Bordeaux, France and the Tokaj region of Hungary, as well as the pink rosé wines produced in southern regions such as Provence in France, are all fans of transparent bottles.

Germany's Blue Ice King Ice Wine uses blue bottles to highlight its supreme quality. Some wineries are good at using colors for positioning, such as France's Veuve Clicquot, which uses a patented special orange as its logo. In addition to the different colors of the wine and the bottle, some wine names are also covered with bright colors. For example, in New South Wales, Australia, there is a production area called Orange. And Coonawarra, also in southwest Australia, is most famous for its red soil (Terra Rosso).

In the famous Vinho Verde wine region in northern Portugal, there is no green wine despite its name. Instead, in 2015, a few young people in their twenties in northwestern Spain with no winemaking experience added anthocyanins, indigo pigments and sweeteners to the wine to create a blue wine called Gik, which caused a sensation in the wine industry. But would you really like to drink this unnatural, artificially blended wine? I wouldn't, unless I could eat blue grapes first.

The darker the red wine, the better it is?

Sometimes we hear comments like this at the dinner table: "This bottle of red wine has a very dark color, it must be a good wine." Color has quietly become the standard for judging the quality of wine. There is also a rumor that you can drop wine on a paper towel and see how much the color spreads to judge whether it is fake. In fact, these are all rumors.

First of all, we need to know where the color of wine comes from. Red wine is made from red grapes, and the source of the color is the pigment in the grape skin. After the grape juice is squeezed out, the winemaker will soak the grape skin in the grape juice to color it. This step is called "maceration". The length of the maceration time depends on the needs of the winemaker, and it also determines the depth of the wine color to a certain extent.

In addition, some grape varieties are dark in color, while others are light in color. This is also determined by genes and cannot be changed. But it cannot be concluded that a bottle of wine is good or bad. The quality of a bottle of wine can only be determined by multiple comprehensive factors.

We mainly judge the vintage of wine by its color. Generally speaking, the younger the wine, the closer it is to the original color of the grapes. White wine is generally lime green and red wine is generally purple. With oxidation caused by aging, both wines will change to brown. Aging in oak barrels is also one of the factors that affect the color of wine. Appreciating the color of a glass of wine is mainly a visual pleasure, but the focus is still on its taste when you drink it.

Understanding the nuances of wine, from its vibrant colors to its delicate flavors, begins at its production. The equipment used plays a vital role in preserving the natural quality of wine. At Jiangsu Pretank Process Co., Ltd., we specialize in high-quality stainless steel wine tanks that are essential for fermenting, aging, and storing wines of all varieties. Our tanks ensure optimal conditions for producing wines that reflect their true colors and flavors, whether it’s red, pink, or golden white. Partner with us to elevate your winemaking process with precision and quality.