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Color in White Wines
Young modern wines are often pale with hints of yellow (which may be likened to straw, lemon or sunshine) and sometimes green highlights. Color deepens with age, tending toward full straw yellow or pale gold. More mature dry wines, particularly if aged in wood, take on rich golden tones, sometimes with hints of copper or brass. Any hints of red in a white wine are usually signs of defects.
Wines long aged in wood or made from semi-dried grapes tend to take on amber shadings, described as tawny, old gold, rust or chestnut. Some turn almost brown from oxidation, favorable when controlled in certain dessert or fortified types such as Marsala, but unfavorable in normal whites.
Color in Rosé Wines
Young wines from dark grapes vinified with little skin contact show pale hues of pink or roseate or, sometimes, hints of orange, coral or salmon. Rosato, the Italian term for rosé, applies to wine with no more than 50 milligrams per liter of the coloring substances anthocyanins. Blush wines, as they are sometimes described, would fit this category.
Wines made with brief skin contact show deeper hues, sometimes associated with raspberries or plum blossoms. Chiaretto, Italian for claret, applies to wine with 50 to 100 milligrams per liter of anthocyanins.
Some wines made with longer skin contact seem more red than pink. Cerasuolo, Italian for cherry red, applies to wine with more than 100 milligrams per liter of anthocyanins. Some rosé takes on tawny shades with age, though usually signs of browning mean the wine is going off.
Color in Red Wines
Young red wines often show a deep purple or mulberry color before they begin to mature. Ruby is the term used most often to describe a healthy wine in the early stages of maturity, though other hues of red are also noted.
With age, many red wines take on hues that are often referred to as garnet. Other descriptions are brick red or mahogany (or references to other woods) for wines that show a warm orange color at the rim.
Pronounced yellow or brown colors at the rim indicate that the wine is past its prime, though a few types of aged red that show tawny or amber tones are still quite drinkable. |
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