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, but only a small proportion of them are used to make single-varietal wines.

1 = Teinturier du Cher, 2 = Alicante Henri Bouschet, 3 = dark fields, 4 = Blauburger
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Egon Mark
Diplom-Sommelier, Weinakademiker und Weinberater, Volders (Österreich)