What determines the colour of a wine?

The colour of a wine is like the skin of a fruit, it tells you what kind of fruit it came from and how ripe it was.

Wine comes from grapes. When grapes are crushed, they make juice, which becomes wine. The skin of the grape stays in the juice during the making process, and that’s where the colour comes from.

What Kind of Grape?

If you use red grapes, like the ones on your snack table, the wine will be red or even purple, just like when you leave a purple crayon in water for a while, the water turns purple too.

If you use white grapes, like those that make lemonade, the wine is usually yellow or green, like the inside of a lime.

How Long It Sits

The longer the grape skin stays in the juice, the darker the wine becomes. Think of it like soaking your hands in dye, the longer you leave them in, the more colour they take on.

So, red wines are often made from red grapes and left to sit for a while, while white wines come from white grapes and don’t stay long. That’s why one is red and the other is yellow! The colour of a wine is like the skin of a fruit, it tells you what kind of fruit it came from and how ripe it was.

Wine comes from grapes. When grapes are crushed, they make juice, which becomes wine. The skin of the grape stays in the juice during the making process, and that’s where the colour comes from.

What Kind of Grape?

If you use red grapes, like the ones on your snack table, the wine will be red or even purple, just like when you leave a purple crayon in water for a while, the water turns purple too.

If you use white grapes, like those that make lemonade, the wine is usually yellow or green, like the inside of a lime.

How Long It Sits

The longer the grape skin stays in the juice, the darker the wine becomes. Think of it like soaking your hands in dye, the longer you leave them in, the more colour they take on.

So, red wines are often made from red grapes and left to sit for a while, while white wines come from white grapes and don’t stay long. That’s why one is red and the other is yellow!

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Examples

  1. A child notices that red wine is dark, while white wine is light.
  2. Someone wonders why some wines look like fruit juice and others like tea.
  3. A beginner in winemaking asks what gives wine its colour.

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Categories: Science · wine· colour· chemistry