Purple or red colored wine

A very broad question and with no simple answer. There are no definite rules here as the colour of the wine will depend many variables - such as the region, the ripeness of the grapes, the winemaker, length of skin contact during the winemaking phase, other winemaking techniques, the age of the wine, etc.

But as a basic example, cabernet sauvignon grapes tend towards making purplish wines. Shiraz (syrah) dark red to black. Pinot noir mid to light red. Sangiovese mid-red. Due to oxidation and other chemical changes in the bottle all reds as they age will develop tawny (rusty?) hues and with great age will eventually become brown.

Cheers!

Martin

Thanks for the above information, Martin.

Also, I had been wondering about this:

Dee Dee

Dee, The chemicals in red wine responsible for its color are pH-sensitive (in fact, they're the same pigment that's in hydragneas). As a result, they'll look more red in high acid wines, more bluish-purple in low acid wines. High acid red varieties would be Pinot Noir, Sangiovese and Barbera and in general wines from the Old World will be higher in acid than their counterparts from the New World. As Martin mentions, there are other factors as well, but pH is an obvious one.

Mark Lipton

I would add that wines from some grapes turn to tawny shades a lot quicker than others. For example Cab Sauv keeps its colour well, while Pinot Noir, Syrah and Nebbiolo will turn morer quickly.