carmine red

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Colour designation (also crimson) for a red wine in the context of a wine address. The name of the red grape variety Carmenère is probably also derived from it. Crimson is an organic pigment of red colour; the name is derived from the Arabic-Persian "kermes" for scarlet berry. To obtain the red dye, dried female cochineal scale insects are boiled in water with the addition of a little sulphuric acid. The insects absorb the substance by sucking the sap from prickly pears (Opuntia). This dye was already known to the Incas. The scale insects were then brought from South America to Europe by the Spanish and bred on Gran Canaria. The dye is used in the production of Campari and also in cosmetics (lipstick). Today, however, it is mainly produced synthetically. See regarding wine colour also under colour, as well as blue, black and white.

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carmine red

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