Today's winemaking methods are the result of constant improvements to traditional techniques dating back thousands of years. Among all the types of wines that we find today at our favorite wine merchant, let's discover maceration wine in more detail.
Wine maceration: what is it?
Maceration refers to a very precise stage of winemaking, which takes place between crushing and pressing the grapes. After bursting the grape berries to release the juice, the winemaker then places the fruit in a vat, to begin the process of skin maceration . During this stage, which can last from a few hours to several days, the solid parts of the bunch of grapes (grape skins, pulp, seeds, etc.) are in contact with the juice. The mixture macerates, allowing the juice to take on color thanks to the pigments of the grape skins (anthocyanins), and to take on tannins and aromas .
Logically, the longer the maceration time, the more colored and tannic the wine is.
Focus on white maceration wines
Macerated white wine is made from white grapes. This particular technique makes it possible to obtain what is called an orange wine .
The white grapes are therefore pressed, then placed in a maceration tank for a period ranging from a few days to several months. During this period, the extraction of aromas and colors is such that we obtain wines that are completely different from classic white wines. These orange wines then have different characteristics depending on the maturity of the grape, but mineral aromas are generally detected.
What differentiates the orange-colored wine from a traditional white wine is also the tannin content . Indeed, like red grapes, the skins of white grapes contain tannins, but in lower quantities. And if the vinification technique for traditional white wines, by pressing, does not give the juice time to soak up the tannins, with the maceration of orange wines, the juice has plenty of time to take on tannins . Orange wine is therefore a colorful white wine recognizable by its tannic structure.
On the palate, the maceration white wine is fresh, with nice acidity and a beautiful yellow color. It is also a very dry wine, with sometimes very marked bitterness. A very popular type of wine.
Focus on red maceration wines
By definition, red wines are maceration wines , because it is the only possible technique which allows the characteristics of red wines to be obtained. After crushing (and possibly destemming), the grapes are placed in vats for long macerations.
During this process, the colorless juice recovers the coloring pigments from the grape skins, but also the tannins and aromas.
The maceration time depends on the desired red wine profile. A short maceration is preferred for a light and easy-drinking vintage, while red wines for aging require several months of maceration. The winemaker then decides alone when the skin maceration ends.
Focus on maceration rosé wines
The production of maceration rosé wine starts like that of red wine. After crushing and destemming the black grapes, the must is placed for maceration, in a tank heated to a temperature between 10 and 15°C. The major difference with red wines is the maceration time.
To obtain rosé wines with a beautiful pink color, the maceration of the grapes is much shorter, in order to limit color extraction. The winemaker therefore stops the skin maceration after 2 to 20 hours .
Good to know: in oenology, we distinguish between saignée rosé, direct pressing rosé and maceration rosé .
Maceration wine refers to a stage of winemaking, which allows the grape juice to imbue the colors, tannins and aromas of the grape berries. We then find maceration wines of the 3 colors. It's up to you to discover the nuances through a good wine tasting in our Provence estates.
