WHITE WINE MADE FROM RED GRAPES

What mostly gives wine its color is the skin of the grape. We say “mostly” because there is slight color—to varying degrees depending on the varietal—in the pulp of the grape from which the juice is squeezed, which is fermented into wine. And, in fact, there are a few red grape varietals with red pulp; however, for the most part, the pulp of most grapes regardless of the color of their skins, produce a clear liquid with a greenish-yellowish hue (i.e., the color of most white wine). Hence, a red wine is red because the red(dish) skins of the grapes are purposely included in the process of fermentation; the skins are macerated and included with the juice pressed from the pulp to ferment. The longer the skin is in contact with the juice during fermentation, the more color it imparts to this fermenting juice. If you haven’t noticed already, rosé wine is made from red grape varietals; hence, the light pinkish color comes from shortening the amount of time the skins ferment with the juice. It should also be noted that the skin of a grape contains natural chemical components that add flavors, tannins being one of the more prominent examples, and this is why rosé wine made from a Grenache grape taste different from red wine made from the same exact Grenache grape from the same vineyard.

White grape varietals naturally produce lighter wine due to the light-colored skins of the grapes, and many winemakers will ensure even less color by pressing the macerated (or even whole) grapes without letting the skins ferment with the juice at all. But winemakers also have the option of fermenting the white grape skins with the juice to give the wine more body and flavors, and if they do it long enough, the wine takes on shades of pink or orange, depending on the colors of the skins of the grape varietals, hence the term “orange wine” for what are really skin-contact white wines.

Given these explanations, if you did not already know, you may have already figured out how a “white” wine can be made from a red grape varietal. You simply press the grape for the juice from the pulp, which is the same color as that of white grapes, and do not allow any skin contact during the fermentation process. It’s as simple as that. Hence, with no further ado, we will introduce you to three wines made from three different red grape varietals grown in three different areas of the world.

Source: https://winery.ph/blogs/wineryph-blog/how-is-wine-made

Domaine du Temps is on the land of an old monastery by the Black Mountain

Lauranne Plegat’s first (and very successful) career was as a TV producer in France after which she took a completely different direction and left the television industry to study winemaking in Burgundy under the tutelage of the renowned Burgundy winemaker Frederic Cossard. After acquiring winemaking knowledge from a master, she moved south to operate the small, natural wine-focused Domaine du Temps, which occupies a retired monastery hidden in a valley near the Black Mountain within the dense garrigue (a Mediterranean scrub forest) of the Languedoc.

Her husband Jeremy Gobert (also coming from a prior career in television) farms the atypical assortment (for the region especially) of varietals on their land in addition to other types of crops on 12 hectares (29 acres), including Roussanne, Chenin Blanc, Cinsault, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Grenache. The couple also lets indigenous plants thrive and their domestic farm animals to roam free over the farm. They let the rustic terrain provide natural shading for varietals that might otherwise over-ripen so far south in France, and they use no irrigation on the estate and of course no chemicals. In this manner, they practice biodynamic farming but without the official certification; however, the estate is certified organic.

Their approach to winemaking is just as natural. They prefer low intervention in the cellar, never adding sulfites to stabilize the wine and take a light-handed approach to fining and filtration.

Featured July Amaro Wine Club wine: Domaine du Temps Cosmopolite Blanc (2021)
VARIETALS: Cinsault

The Cinsault grapes are hand-harvested, direct pressed without skin contact to make a “white” wine. Fermentation is done in concrete, and the little filtration and fining that happen is accomplished with vegan methods. The wine is then aged in neutral oak.

FOOD PAIRINGS: veal or pork in reduced wine sauce, grilled halibut, tuna steaks, sauced shellfish, vegetable or cheese soufflés, sautéed rabbit, risotto with chanterelles, potato-chèvre galette.

Their animals roam free on the land.

The patriarch Antonio Morgante.

In 1994, Antonio Morgante decided to create a winery on his land to begin vinifying the grapes he had previously sold, grown on 500 acres of vineyards in prime Sicilian territory in soil ranging from clay to calcareous to marl 45 miles from the Valley of the Temples of Agrigento in a hilly region about 1,200 to 1,800 feet (366 to 549 meters) above sea level. In 1997, he brought his sons Carmelo and Giovanni into the venture and hired the oenologist Riccardo Cotarella as their winemaker and the business started in earnest. Cotarella has a reputation for creating premium wines with Italy’s native varietals, and the Morgante estate grows Nero d’Avola exclusively.

Nero d’Avola is the staple varietal of Sicily, having mutated over thousands of years to survive the arid, hot climate of the island. The varietal is capable of being dry farmed, and it ranks with Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage, and Syrah for producing the fullest bodied wines in the world without much manipulation in the cellar. Cotarella decided to broaden the winery’s portfolio by manipulating the varietal in the cellar to also produce a rosé and a white wine.

Featured July Amaro Wine Club wine: Morgante Bianco di Morgante (2022)
VARIETALS: Nero d’Avola

The Nero d’Avola grapes for this wine are pressed gently and statically drained for the juice avoiding any skin contact past the gentle press. They are then fermented for 20 days in stainless steel tanks, and then aged for four months in stainless steel tanks and then a further two months in bottles before releasing.

FOOD PAIRINGS: fish in simple sauces, seafood with marinade, grilled vegetables with mild olive oil, poultry dishes, rich seafood, tuna steaks

Antonio, Carmelo, Giovanni, and a representative of the next generation.

The oak savannah is an integral part of the estate

Left Coast Estate in Willamette, Oregon, is relatively young; its inaugural vintage was in 2004. Also, let’s keep in mind that Vitus vinifera is not native to the New World; however, the estate founders will have none of this talk of youth because they insist that they are drawing on 15,000 years of history, which is when they know the land in its present form was shaped by the Missoula Floods. In addition to what these massive movements of water did to the geography, they also left a unique sedimentary soil deposit that the family believes gives their wines unique expressions.

The estate comprises 500 acres, 160 of which are hillside vineyards, planted with seven grape varietals. However, the plant that is equally prized on the property are towering oak trees comprising a savanna that they have restored to the tune of 100 acres, and that they believe is central to the biodiversity of the estate. The family is also aware that the land was originally inhabited by the Grand Ronde, Siletz, Yamhill, and Kalapuya peoples and they encourage those who remain to continue using the land even to the extent of helping keep parts of it healthy with man-made fires.

Fun fact about the estate’s name: three out of five family members are left-handed. The ownership model is unique, also. Left Coast was founded by two parents who made their children owners from the outset hoping that they will do the same with their children. In terms of farming, sustainability is core; they use gravity-fed drip irrigation, power all their vineyard operations with solar energy, and plant cover crops to attract pollinators.

As would be expected, the estate’s winemaking focuses on natural methods that leaves as little carbon imprint on the environment as possible. In 2008, the estate received a USDA grant to convert to solar energy, which powers all the vineyard and winemaking operations. The winery is Salmon Safe and LIVE Certified, and one of the original six producers to be third-party verified in the Carbon Neutral Challenge, now part of LIVE’s carbon reduction program.

Next generations of Left Coast family members