One of the characteristics of the red wines from Ribera del Duero is the color. This visual characteristic is the first sensation when we do a tasting, since it gives us a lot of information about the wine we are going to taste. taste: the type of grape, the production process, the age…, as well as paying special attention to the transparency, the brightness and the colour itself.

The colour of the wine is due to polyphenols (tannins and anthocyanins). Tannins They are found in the stem, skin and seeds and give stability to the final color. Anthocyanins are found in the skin and pulp and are the definitive cause of the wine’s colour and give it that blueish tone.

But the colour depends on more factors, such as the type of grape, the soil, the climate of the area, the amount of sunlight that the vineyards receive, the temperature changes, the production methods and the aging and storage time.

A conclusive factor in the color of the wine is the container where the vinification takes place; the same result is not produced in a steel tank. stainless steel, where there is less oxygen and the colours are more intense and bright, than in an oak barrel where oxidation is greater.

The time in the barrel also contributes to other variations in colour, such as the type of toasting of the barrel, the type of oak or the size of the pores. Precisely, this size will influence micro-oxygenation through them in the aging process, and will make the vivid and intense tones vary towards darker, brownish, tile or copper hues, depending on the time in the barrel.

In addition, the storage in the bottle will also change the color of the wine, since the process of micro-oxygenation and reduction of the wine inside the bottle will affect the final nuances, toning down the intense tones a little.

The reds from Bodegas Federico have tones and shades of different color depending on the time of its aging:

Tinto Federico Roble has a cherry red color with very violet tones.

Tinto Federico Crianza has a dark cherry red color, with violet iridescence. Clean and bright.

Tinto Federico Reserva is an intense cherry red, with violet tones. Violet and some brick tones.

Tinto Federico Gran Reserva has a ruby ​​red color with a rim, good layer and bright. Very clean.