Vin rouge
How red wine is made
Red wine is not just fermented grape juice. Its colour, texture and ageing potential come from the skins, which are kept in contact with the juice throughout fermentation. Every decision — when to pick, how long to macerate, what vessel to age in — shapes the wine in the bottle.
From grape to glass
The harvest
Red wine begins in the vineyard. Picking can be by hand or machine; the goal is to bring intact grapes into the cellar at the right sugar and acid balance. In France, many top estates still harvest by hand so berries arrive whole and unbruised.
Timing matters enormously. A few days' difference can shift a wine from tart and herbal to rich and jammy. In cooler years, growers may wait as long as possible; in hot years, they rush to keep freshness.
Destemming and crushing
Grapes are usually destemmed, then lightly crushed so the juice can mingle with the skins. Some producers keep a percentage of whole bunches for structure and a stalky, savoury note — common in Burgundy and the northern Rhône.
Whole-cluster fermentation can add tannin and a herbal, peppery character, but only if the stems are ripe. Green stems taste aggressive and woody.
Fermentation
Yeasts convert grape sugar into alcohol. Winemakers may use cultured yeasts for reliability or native yeasts for complexity. Temperature is tightly controlled: too hot and the wine loses fragrance; too cool and extraction stalls.
Reds typically ferment between 20°C and 32°C. During fermentation, carbon dioxide pushes the grape skins to the surface, forming a thick 'cap' that must be managed.
Maceration
This is where red wine gets its colour and tannin. The juice sits on the skins, seeds and sometimes stems. Techniques like punch-downs, pump-overs and délestage keep the cap wet and extract flavour, colour and structure.
Longer maceration gives more tannin and depth but can also make a wine astringent. A Beaujolais might macerate for days; a top Bordeaux or Barolo for weeks.
Pressing
Once fermentation is complete, the free-run wine is drained off. The remaining skins are pressed to extract the last wine, which is richer in tannin and pigment. Press wine may be blended back in or kept separate.
Gentle pressing preserves elegance; hard pressing can add bitterness. Many fine wines use only free-run juice for their top cuvées.
Malolactic fermentation
A second, bacterial fermentation converts sharp malic acid into softer lactic acid. It rounds the wine, reduces acidity and adds creamy, dairy-like notes. Almost all red wines go through it.
This step also stabilises the wine: without it, malolactic fermentation might happen later, unpredictably, in the bottle.
Ageing
Wines are aged in tank, barrel or bottle depending on style. Oak barrels add vanilla, spice and tannin while allowing slow oxygen contact. Large old barrels or concrete tanks preserve fruit and freshness.
New French oak is expensive and powerful; many producers use a portion of new barrels and top up with older, larger vessels to balance cost and character.
Blending and bottling
Most French wines are blends of different parcels, varieties or vintages. The winemaker assembles the final cuvée, then clarifies, filters if needed, and bottles. Some wines age further in bottle before release.
Blending is where style is finalised. In Bordeaux, Cabernet Sauvignon brings structure, Merlot brings flesh and Cabernet Franc brings perfume. In Burgundy, blending is usually by vineyard, not grape.
Why colour comes from the skins
The pulp of almost every wine grape is clear. Red wine is red because the skins contain anthocyanins, pigments that leach into the juice during maceration. The longer and more vigorously the skins are worked, the darker and more tannic the wine becomes. That is why the same grape can yield a pale, silky Burgundy or an inky, structured Cahors, depending on how it is handled.
Oak, tank and terroir
French tradition tends to let place speak louder than technique. A Bordeaux grand cru may spend eighteen months in new barriques; a Beaujolais cru may age in concrete or old wood to keep its bright fruit. The vessel is a tool, not a destination. The best wines use oak to frame what the vineyard already gave.
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