Term for dark grape varieties or so-called colouring grapes. These grapes have a red flesh, as opposed to the usually light or grey flesh of most red wine grapes. This means that the anthocyanins are not only present in the berry skins, but also in larger quantities inside the berries and therefore also in the grape must. As the colour pigments are present throughout the plant tissue, the leaves also turn red relatively early. Most of the colouring grapes are used to make cover wines, and only a small proportion of them are used to make single-varietal wines.
Such grapes became popular in France, particularly from the mid-19th century, to give colour to pale, low-pigment red wines. In most cases, less than five per cent of the cover wine in a cuvée is sufficient to fulfil this requirement. Although such a small amount is sufficient to change the colour, it is also small enough not to have an undesirable effect on the taste.
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Dominik Trick
Technischer Lehrer, staatl. geprüfter Sommelier, Hotelfachschule Heidelberg