All Articles Fitness Nutrition Red Wines vs. White Wines: Which Bottle Should You Pick? Most wine drinkers have their preferences of red wines or white wines, and their preferences are mostly based on taste. However, if you want to have a healthy meal, you should take the nutritional values of the wines into consideration. So, should you go for white or red wines? Features of White and Red Wines The main ingredient in white wines is white grapes, and these grapes have no skins or seeds. Most white wines have a light and fruity taste, but there are certain varieties of white wines that have a richer taste. Some of the types of white wines that are available include Champagne, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay, Viognier and Chenin Blanc. On the other hand, red wines are made with dark red and black grapes. The main difference between red and white wines is that red wines are produced with whole grapes, including the skin. The skins add color and flavor to red wines, and this is the reason why these wines have a richer flavor.

Red wines are the preferred type of wines in major wine-making countries such as Italy and France. The most popular red wines include Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Malbec and Sangiovese. Health Benefits of White and Red Wines Both white and red wines are good for your health. Although they are made with grapes, they do not provide the same health benefits as fruits. After they go through fermentation, the grapes lose some of their original nutrition, but they also gain new health benefits. One of the main benefits of white wines is that they can improve heart health and prevent heart diseases. They are also effective in promoting lung health. Red wines have most of the health benefits of white wines, and they can contribute to your health in other ways as well. Since they contain the skins of grapes, red wines have a powerful type of antioxidants called resveratrols. Resveratrols offer excellent protection for your blood vessels, and they can eliminate blood clots as well.

They are also effective in inhibiting the activities of enzymes that stimulate the growth of cancer cells and slow down immune response. Red wines also contain polyphenols, which are excellent antioxidants that can perform a wide variety of tasks, including reducing blood pressure and cholesterol levels, improving the immune system, combating against harmful bacteria and preventing cancer. best place to buy italian winesThere is also a significant amount of flavonoids in red wines, and these antioxidants are known to be able to lower risks of cancer.age good wine guide Generally, red wines are considered a healthier option than white wines. where to buy wine on tapHowever, high quality white wines from certain winemakers may offer more health benefits than some red wines. wine making equipment for sale uk

Wines do not only improve physical health; they can also help you overcome stress. If you are suffering from a serious disease, the calming effect of wines may give you the mental focus to help you overcome the illness. Even though wines are beneficial to your health, they should not be consumed excessively.wine and food solutionsIn my quest to find out what you really want to know, I’ve started checking search analytics. best italian wine blogIt’s intriguing to see that the most common searches are concerned with acid in wine. how much glass of wine costThe search terms are things like: less acidic white wine, red wine with low acidity, low acid wine listbest vineyards wine tasting long island

Wine is high in acid The first thing to know is that wine is a tart beverage. Unless you enjoy eating fresh lemons, wine is more acidic than just about any food you can think of. That’s why it’s so easy to pair with food. beer and wine menuThe acidity is cleansing. On the pH scale, zero is tart (battery acid), seven is neutral (water) and 14 is alkaline (lye, Drano). Wine normally falls somewhere in the threes. For cool-climate wine it may even dip down into the high twos – very, very tart! The influence of climate That said, white wines tend to be higher in acid than reds, from 3.0 – 3.5 where reds are usually between 3.3 and 3.8 (I know this is confusing: as the acid goes up, the pH goes down.) It depends upon the variety and the climate. Warm climates produce soft acidity and cool, the opposite. Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling are naturally tart and Chardonnay changes with the environment: warm climate Chards, like most of California or Australia, tend to be soft and cool-climate examples, like Chablis or white Burgundy, are tart.

So, for low acid wines, in general, seek out warm climate examples: As we said, most of California and Australia, southern Italy, Argentina, eastern Washington… and keep in mind that the whites are higher than the reds. I’m sorry to say that most of Europe falls into the cool-climate column. Of course, latitude makes a difference and Germany is waaay different from Sicily. When you’re shopping and considering a specific wine, if you go to the winery website they often  have notes that identify the pH. They may also identify the acid, but the pH is a more accurate indicator (in many cases the acid stated is only for the main grape acid – the tartaric acid – so it doesn’t tell the whole story.) You might think sweet wines are low in acid but they’re not! The winemakers balance the sweetness with acidity so the wine doesn’t turn out tasting like pancake syrup. Popular low-acid whites: Viognier, Marsanne and Semillon. For reds, I’d go more by climate than variety but watch out for Barbera, Sangiovese, Carignane and Grenache.

They’re naturally high in acidity. Again, check the pH. But there’s this other thought nagging at me on this subject. And, that’s that lots of folks confuse acid with tannin because it’s hard to tell the difference. To cut to the chase on tasting the difference, acid tastes tart and makes your mouth water, especially along the sides of your tongue. Tannin makes your mouth water, too, but it’s a delayed reaction. The biggest sensory difference is that tannin turns your mouth into a desert. It seeks out protein in your mouth, which is everywhere, and gloms on to it. There’s a sense of grip. It also adds to the wine’s bitterness. Red wines are almost always more tannic than whites because the juice is fermented with the grape skins and the skins are the main tannin source. Whites are most often fermented as juice only. Just as different varieties differ in acidity, some grapes are more tannic than others. Pinot Noir is thin skinned so not very tannic. Cabernet Sauvignon has a tough, chewy skin with lots of tannin.