What does Skin contact mean?

Skin contact means the grape skins were left in the juice or wine for a time, giving colour, tannin and aroma from the skins.

Also known as: Maceration, Skin maceration

Skin contact, or maceration, means the grape skins are left in the juice or fermenting wine for a time. Colour, tannin and aroma compounds are drawn out of the skins. How much is extracted depends on time, temperature and how often the skins are mixed with the liquid.

All red wines get their colour from skin contact, because the juice of most dark grapes is colourless. Reds often stay on their skins for one to several weeks. Rosé gets its pale colour from brief contact, from a few hours up to a couple of days, before the juice is drawn off.

For white wines the grapes are normally pressed straight away so the juice stays free of skins. Some producers still leave white grapes on their skins for a few hours before fermentation to bring out more aroma. If white grapes instead ferment with their skins for days, weeks or months, the result is orange wine, with an amber colour, tannin and more texture.

When skin contact is mentioned on the wine page, it usually concerns a white or orange wine, since the method is a given for reds. It tells you the wine is likely to have more structure and colour than a typical white.