Differences between Red and White Wines in Grapes, Fermentation, and Flavor

The differences between red and white wines include the kinds of grapes used, the fermentation and aging process, and the character and flavor of the wine. White wines are almost always made from white grapes, although they can be made from black grapes, since the juice in most black grapes is clear. When white wine is made, the skins of the grapes are separated from the juice when they are put into a crushing machine. After filtering etc, the wine is aged by storing it in stainless steel or occasionally oak containers and bottled after a few months. White wines, then, are made without skins or seeds and are essentially fermented grape juice.

They have a light character and have crisp fruit flavors and aromas. They can be sweet or dry or somewhere in between Red wine is usually made from red or black grapes, although all the kinds of grapes usually have a clear juice. The process of making red wine is different from the one of making white wine. After the grapes have been in the crushing machine, the red grapes with their skins and everything sit in a fermentation vat for a period of time, typically about one to two weeks. . The skins tend to rise to the surface of the mixture and form a layer on top.

The winemaker frequently mixes this layer back into the fermenting juice (which is called must). After fermentation is over, the new wine is taken from the vat. A little "free run" juice is allowed to pour and the rest of the must is squeezed into "press wine". The wine is clarified and then is stored, usually in oak containers, for several months until it is ready to be bottled. The oak containers add additional wood tannins and flavors to the wine which help to intensify it and add richness to it. The result of this process is that red wines exhibit a set of rich flavors with spicy, herby, and even meaty characteristics.

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Late harvest ice wines are the exceptions in both hemispheres. The grapes are typically left on the vine to increase the sugar content and may be harvested up to a few months after the traditional harvest. An indigenous yeast fermentations starts by itself when wild yeast strains – originating in the vineyard - start fermenting. Wild yeast can take up to a week to begin the fermentation because their initial populations are small compared to an inoculated fermentation. But there is strenuous debate as to whether the wild yeast come in from the vineyard or are already present in the cellar on winemaking equipment.

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