Wine color practice of saignée (exposing wine to red grape skins for only a short period of time in order to give it a lighter feel closer to that of white wine) or by blending a white wine with a red wine. The presence of a complex mixture of anthocyanins and procyanidins can increase the stability of color in wine. As it ages, the wine undergoes chemical autoxidation reactions involving acetaldehyde of its pigments molecules. The newly formed molecules are more stable to the effect of pH or sulfite bleaching. The new compounds include pyranoanthocyanins like vitisins (A and B), pinotins and
History of French wine History of French wine The history of French wine, spans a period of at least 2600 years dating to the founding of Massalia in the 6th century BC by Phocaeans with the possibility that viticulture existed much earlier. The Romans did much to spread viticulture across the land they knew as Gaul, encouraging the planting of vines in areas that would become the well known wine regions of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Alsace, Champagne, Languedoc, Loire Valley and the Rhone. Over the course of its history, the French wine industry would be influenced and driven by the commercial interests of the lucrative