One grape, many wines: what makes one wine different from another?

A wine's style comes not only from the grape variety and the growing site, but also from the winemaker's decisions: when to harvest, how long the must stays in contact with the skins, what vessel it ferments and matures in, and how much oxygen reaches it along the way. From the same grape you can make a fresh, fruity wine or a heavy, barrel-aged one.

One road, many forks

Every wine starts down the same road: harvest, processing (crushing, destemming, pressing; the order depends on the type of wine), alcoholic fermentation, maturing, bottling. During fermentation the yeast converts the grape's sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The differences between styles come down to three questions.

1. Does it ferment with or without the skins?

The skin gives colour, tannin and many aromas. That is why red wine is red, and why a white wine can also be “orange”.

2. How much oxygen does the wine get?

Controlling oxygen is the main difference between reductive and oxidative winemaking.

3. What stays in the wine, and what forms in it?

Residual sugar (in sweet wines, such as Aszú) or carbon dioxide (in sparkling wines).

Time on the skins

From the same grape, the time spent on the skins decides the style: rosé spends a few hours, red wine weeks, orange wine even months on the skins, while white wine usually has no contact with the skins at all.