Page 18 - Uncorked Magazine - Winter 2017

shades of red
LEFT The distinctive galet stones of the
Châteauneuf-du-Pape region store daytime
heat and can quicken the grape ripening

WHAT MAKES
IT RED?
GOOD QUESTION! ALL THE COLOUR
IN RED WINE COMES FROM THE SKIN
OF THE GRAPES. A NEAT WAY TO
DEMONSTRATE THIS IS SIMPLY TO
SQUEEZE AN ORDINARY RED TABLE
GRAPE BETWEEN YOUR THUMB AND
FOREFINGER AND WATCH AS THE
CLEAR JUICE DROPS OUT OF THE PULP.
NO RED JUICE THERE. THIS IS WHY RED
OLDER THAN WINE IS FERMENTED WITH ITS SKINS
10 YEARS (UNLIKE WHITE WINE) TO EXTRACT
Lightening THE COLOUR FROM THEM BEFORE THE
to a brick colour SKINS ARE DISCARDED.
THE RED
RAINBOW
All red wine gets lighter in colour
as it ages. In extreme youth, The famed Gamay grapes of the
when tasted from the barrel in Beaujolais region in Burgundy, France
AFTER 10 YEARS
The ruby colour lightens the winery, many reds sport a
to crimson dense purple colour with violet
at the rim. After a year or two
in the bottle this softens to a
full garnet, less vivid, with hints
of ruby-crimson at the rim. The
AFTER ABOUT colour remains thus for a couple
1 to 2 YEARS IN of years, with little visible change
BOTTLE until, after a decade or so, ruby
Less vivid garnet colour, lightening to crimson replaces
hints of ruby-crimson at the garnet. Eventually, the colour
the rim
lightens further to brick-red,
though depending on the wine,
this may take decades to happen.
The above applies to wines that
start off life deep in colour; lighter
FIRST YEAR
From the barrel, deep ones progress more rapidly across
purple in colour with violet the colour spectrum.
at the rim

Boschendal in South Africa, where they add the white Viognier grape to red Shiraz

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