On Wine: Red vs white

What makes red and white wines so different? Of course, reds are made from red grapes and white grapes are usually used for white wine. While there are some exceptions, this is no surprise.

Squash either a red or white grape and you’ll see the juice runs white. This leads to the most important difference between red and white wines, which is how they’re made. Reds are fermented with the grape skins, seeds (and an occasional stem) in contact with the juice, while whites typically are not. A red grape’s skin imparts the red color to the resultant wine. How red? It depends on how long the juice remains in contact with the skins. With no contact at all, you’d have white wine from a red grape.

Some Champagnes and sparklers labeled Blanc de Noir (“white of black”) are made from Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier (both red grapes) and yield an exceptionally excellent finished product that’s white. These grapes spend no time on their skins.

Another distinct difference between reds and whites is the tannin content. Tannins come from the grape skins and can also be enhanced with oak barrels. Tannin provides an astringency that makes many red wines dry, or super dry, such as a Chianti, made largely or solely with Sangiovese grapes.

White grapes also contain tannin though in much lower levels. Rarely, white grapes are fermented with their skins and seeds, producing what’s called orange wine, which indeed, has some astringency and is quite different from either reds or whites.

Red wines generally have a softer, fuller bodied mouth feel while whites are better known for their lighter freshness and acidity. This difference comes from using those same oak barrels for the reds, which allow much more oxygen to contact the juice than the stainless-steel vats used for white wine. The taste difference is clear; whites maintain their floral, fruity notes while the oxygenated reds are richer, smoother, and usually have a more complex flavor profile.

Red wine is healthier than white wine. Wine grapes contain over 5,000 compounds, most of which are polyphenols found in the skins. These polyphenols include resveratrol and procyanidin, which inhibit cholesterol plaque forming in blood vessels. It’s not magic, though it does have some strong science behind it.

Many other variables account for red vs. white’s differences, and there’s no way to entirely quantify it. Except with your own taste of course.

Ernest Valtri of Buckingham is a sculptor, painter, graphic designer, and a former member of the PLCB’s Wine Advisory Council. Please contact Erno at ObjectDesign@verizon.net.

Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.