How White Wine Is Made
White wine is defined by what's excluded — specifically, the grape skins. How a winemaker handles the juice, the fermentation vessel, and the oak tells you almost everything about what's in the glass.
· 6 min read
Key takeaways
- White wine is made with minimal or no skin contact — the juice is separated from the skins early, which is why it has almost no tannin.
- Fermentation temperature is the key variable: cooler fermentation preserves aromatic freshness; warmer fermentation builds texture and complexity.
- Oak ageing versus no oak is the biggest stylistic divide in white winemaking: unoaked whites are fresh and fruit-forward; oaked whites are richer with vanilla and toast notes.
- Malolactic fermentation (converting sharp malic acid to soft lactic acid) is optional for whites — it creates the 'buttery' quality in some Chardonnays and is blocked in wines where freshness is the goal.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you make white wine from red grapes?
- Yes — press gently and remove skins before fermentation. Since almost all grape flesh is colourless, you get pale juice. Champagne Blanc de Noirs is made entirely from Pinot Noir this way.
- Why does some Chardonnay taste buttery and others don't?
- The buttery quality comes from malolactic fermentation (which produces diacetyl, a buttery compound) and lees ageing with stirring. Chablis undergoes MLF but minimal lees stirring — round but not buttery. California Chardonnay with full MLF and new oak can be aggressively buttery.
- What is 'orange wine'?
- Orange wine is white wine made with extended skin contact — like red wine, but with white grapes. Skin contact extracts colour, tannin, and phenolics, producing amber, richer, more savoury wines. The style has ancient roots in Georgia and is popular in the natural wine movement.
- Why are some white wines cloudy?
- Cloudiness usually means unfined/unfiltered wine, residual yeast (common in natural wines), or tartrate crystals ('wine diamonds'). If the wine smells and tastes fine, cloudiness is cosmetic rather than a fault.
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