Color

The color of a wine is a major sensory property as most people are very visually focused. The visual appearance of wine is the first property that strikes our senses. Wines are divided into either red or white color and a range of hues is possible in both cases.

White Wines

White wine will range from a pale almost colorless liquid similar to water all the way to deep orange and even brown hues. The grape varietal and exposure to oxygen over the life of the wine will determine what color the wine appears. White wines will typically be a pale straw color to a rich amber color. A general rule is the darker the color, the richer the texture, but this is not always true. White wines will develop orange and brown tints as they age and begin to oxidize. Occasionally a pinkish color develops in white wine juices. This is a flaw that requires fining treatments.

Red Wines

Red wines range from a light pink in rosé and blush styles, to deep opaque reds and purples. The grape varietal and oxygen will affect red color just like white wines, but red wines also have the factor of how the wines are processed since the color of red wines comes from the grape skins. Red wine color changes over the age of the wines. Very young wines show the greatest amount of color. The hue will change towards brick red as wines age, followed by orange coloring around the edge of the liquid, to brownish hues, and eventually in very old wines the color can disappear entirely when the compounds responsible for red wine color precipitate along with tannin sediments.

Winemakers assess wine color by examining the wine in a glass against a well lit white background. The wine’s clarity, the hue of the color, and the consistency of the color throughout the wine are evaluated.