Good Lifestyle

You can't make a good lunch or a good dinner without bringing a good wine to the table, white or red. Wine lovers in Italy (and in the world) are many and seem to be constantly increasing. The number of enthusiasts of enology is growing and with them the culture and knowledge that orbit around this reality as fascinating as it is complex. The characteristics of the grapes, the origin, the territories, the processes are all factors that contribute to determining the product: the wine that arrives in our glasses and with which we delight ourselves during our evenings in the company. But let's start from the ABC: do you know what the difference between red wine and white wine is? And you can say which is the best between the two? Follow us on this small journey between vinifications and curiosities and you will know something more.

White wine from red grapes

No, you didn't read badly. There is a written "white wine from red grapes" because it is a much more common wine production process than it is believed. White wine is not produced only with white grapes, but often it is done with red grapes. Not everyone knows it, but this is possible by simply using different processing methods. An example? French champagne. (Ok, it is a champagne and not a firm wine, but if we limit ourselves to color, the example works and is fitting!) The champagne, with its characteristic white color, is traditionally produced with the black pinot.

White wine or red wine?

The wine is nothing more than a fermented grape juice: the grapes are collected, they press, to then be placed in special containers (dry, vats, steel tanks) to ferment. During fermentation, the sugars naturally present in grape juice are transformed into alcohol. The grapes pressed after the collection is also pressed. It is a procedure thanks to which the skins and other sediments present in the fruit are removed. The moment when the pressing is made (if before or after fermentation) is one of the steps that determine the color of the final product; Time and the way this process is carried out establishes if in the end we will have a white wine or a red wine.

White wine

If after the harvest the grapes is pressed, before being put to ferment (if all the skins are removed, the seeds and the raspi) the wine that we will have at the end of the processing will be white. And this also happens with the red grapes because they do not give them time to release the pigments in the juice.

Red wine

When it comes to red wine, on the other hand, the procedure is usually this: it is left to ferment the juice together with all the skins, seeds and rasppi. The characteristics of the grapes, the fermentation times and the processing techniques are what then leads to the final product, what defines the color, the flavor, the alcoholic degree.

The nutritional differences

There are no large nutritional differences between white wine and red wine. They are very similar since they share the same fruit of origin. But the processing can make a certain difference, especially as regards red wine. The skins, seeds and stems that remain to ferment in red wine give him, in addition to his pigment, also many other healthy compounds: riboflavin, iron, manganese, potassium and other vitamins and minerals. White wine also contains it, but in decidedly smaller quantities. In favor of white wine, however, we can say that it has a much lower calorie intake.

The beneficial properties

Above all, the red wine, which ferments together with grapes and seeds, is very rich in particularly beneficial plant compounds for the body. It helps to reduce the risk of heart disease and has a protective effect on the cardiovascular and circulatory system. It helps to reduce bad cholesterol and, as some recent studies demonstrate, it also helps to decrease the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. Not to mention the contrast to free radicals. A weighted daily consumption of wine can be the right elixir to stay young, cheerful and healthy.