This is overview of red wine — how it’s made from black grapes and how style, climate, and wine-making shape its flavors.
Explore red wines:
What is Red Wine?
Red wine is produced from dark-skinned grapes and is generally characterized by deeper color, more body, and the presence of tannins, which create a drying sensation on the palate. Flavor profiles can range from bright red fruits like cherry and raspberry to darker notes of blackberry, plum, spice, and earth. Red wines are usually served slightly below room temperature and are often chosen for their structure and depth, pairing well with heartier foods and offering a broad spectrum of styles from light and silky to bold and powerful.
Black grapes hang on the vine until they are ripe. The focus before harvest often includes achieving full phenolic ripeness, meaning skins, seeds, and tannins have matured alongside sugar levels. Growers may allow a longer hang time to deepen color and structure, aiming for grapes that will deliver both flavor concentration and balanced tannin in the finished wine.
Black grapes often perform best in warmer climates, which allow them to fully ripen and develop deeper color, richer flavors, and softer tannins.
Once the grapes are ready to be harvested, they are picked by hand or machine. The grapes are often picked at night because cooler temperatures help preserve freshness and acidity while reducing oxidation and slowing unwanted fermentation.
In the winery, black grapes usually soak with their skins to extract added flavor, tannins and texture.
After a period of time, the black grapes are placed into fermentation tanks, vessels, or barrels.
Yeast are added to the grape juice to consume the sugars and turn them into alcohol. This process may take a couple of weeks.
The temperatures are a bit warmer than white wines to extract as much fruit flavor as possible.
When fermentation is complete, the grapes are pressed to remove the wine away from the skins. The skins are discarded.
When fermentation completes, the wine-maker must decide what to do next. The wine may be:
1. Bottled for immediate consumption
2. Aged in oak to develop additional flavors and texture
3. Stored in a vat and bottled at a later date
