<\/strong>What are tannins?<\/p>\n We\u2019ll talk all about tannins in another episode down the\n line but the easiest way to understand them is to think of the way a very\n unripe piece of fruit sucks up all the liquid in your mouth and makes your\n cheeks pucker in. <\/p>\n
You want tannins, in moderation, because like acidity, it\n gives the wine some lift, some energy. And long healthy life. <\/p>\n
ACIDITY + TANNINS = LONG HEALTHY LIFE!<\/p>\n
Some scientists believe that tannins can give us longer\n lives too, by helping to clean our blood and prevent heart attacks. <\/p>\n
Do you need another excuse to drink red wine? As Cher\n Horowitz would say, As if! Also I am not a doctor.<\/p>\n
Wine is good for your heart. <\/p>\n
Remember how important it is to have something white to hold\n up next to your glass so you can really see the color and the way the light\n hits the edges.<\/p>\n
Take a good look. Shades of Red. <\/p>\n
Is it Violet red? Ruby red? Garnet Red or Brick Red? You\n might be looking at your glass and thinking, how the heck do I know? It looks\n like red wine. If you drink a lot of red\n wine, you should start paying attention. <\/p>\n
As always, practice makes perfect. You can download all\n sorts of charts illustrating the colors of wine, or simply observe the colors\n of different red wines when you and your friends are enjoying them, although\n that could take you a very long time and you can\u2019t forget that white\n background!<\/p>\n
In addition to decoding the color of wine, you\u2019re also\n looking to see how opaque it is. <\/p>\n
Step one: What Color? <\/p>\n
Step 2: How Dense?<\/p>\n
Malbec, Cabernet, and Syrah are darker, denser and more opaque,\n whereas Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo, and Sangiovese are almost transparent in\n comparison. <\/p>\n
As you can see, my wine is pretty transparent.<\/p>\n
The color can tell you a lot about what the grape might be, as well what to expect. <\/p>\n
Wines that look compact and dark are likely to pack a\n heavier body \u2013that is, weightiness in your mouth \u2013and darker, riper aromas like\n blackberry jam or chocolate. <\/p>\n
Wines that look lighter in the glass will feel likely feel lighter on the palate. <\/p>\n
The wine growing and winemaking process also affects the\n color, which gives you even more clues. <\/p>\n
Wine growing and wine making both affect the color. <\/p>\n
You may have read somewhere that wine begins in the\n vineyard. With the grape itself. <\/p>\n
Modern winemaking standards, the DOC of Italy and the AOC of\n France \u2013 those little indications on the wine label \u2013 often dictate how many\n grapes per plant the winemaker can harvest.<\/p>\n
This forces them to select only the ripest grapes,\n healthiest grapes (and of course the healthiest skin). That translates to pure,\n rich color, powerful aromas, and a lot more of sugar, which translates to\n higher alcohol and poli-alcohol and a silkier feeling on your palate. Think of\n the difference between water and honey.<\/p>\n
Higher alcohol and polyalcohol content = smoother palate. It\u2019s Science! <\/p>\n
Wineries with a lot of money and a lot of land can afford to\n prune back their vines all season long. This\n means fewer grapes, but big, fat, juicy ones. The resulting wines are also big,\n fat and juicy. <\/p>\n
The highest quality wines come from grapes that are healthy\n and bursting, but also harvested early enough to maintain tight skins and\n plenty of acidity and tannins for a long, fresh life. Often winemakers blend the harvest.<\/p>\n
Blending = balance. <\/p>\n
We talked about white wines getting darker as they age. Red\n wines actually lighten up. Like hair. <\/p>\n
White Wines Get Darker. Red Wines Lighten Up <\/p>\n
After a few years, the color pigment from the grape skin\n starts to fade away.<\/p>\n
First from violet to ruby red or garnet red and then to a more translucent brick red. If you see a bright red with purple tints in the light, the wine is probably quite young and fresh. <\/p>\n
In wines that age for decades, like a Bordeaux, you might\n not see those brownish, brick red colors for years. <\/p>\n
Depending on the grape variety, these color changes can\n happen sooner than later. <\/p>\n
Nebbiolo for example, the Barolo grape, turns brick red very\n quickly, but that doesn\u2019t necessarily y mean it\u2019s ready to drink. <\/p>\n
Nebbiolo is an exception to the rule. <\/p>\n
That color is, however, a great clue as to what the wine is,\n and what you should expect to smell, taste and feel when you drink it. If it\u2019s a Nebbiolo that means ripe cherries,\n black licorice, and even tar. WHAT? <\/p>\n
That\u2019s right. If you are lucky enough to drink a lot of Nebbiolo,\n you recognize the color almost immediately. And if you train your nose to\n recognize things like ripe cherries, black licorice and tar\u2026 that will be your\n confirmation. <\/p>\n
Let me know what you were drinking today and what you\n noticed in the comments below. And if\n you are enjoying these lessons, please subscribe to stay tuned and enroll to\n get a head\u2019s up on what we\u2019ll be tasting and smelling next time.<\/p>\n
Cheers! Wine is a Language. Learn how to Speak it. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How does wine get its color? That is what we’re here to talk about. We are back in action and today is all about colors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11211,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","ub_ctt_via":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[804,970,972],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/divino.wine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Day-4-Colors-of-RED-Wine.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Annie B. Shapero","author_link":"https:\/\/divino.wine\/author\/as26643\/"},"yoast_head":"\n
Colors of Red Wine - Day 4 - DiVino<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n