How do you interpret the intensity of a wine's color?

This is an integral part of wine tasting. When wine is poured into your glass, even before it reaches your nose or mouth, it's the eye that makes the first analysis. And for good reason: the intensity of a wine's color can tell you a lot about its various characteristics.

To do this, tilt the wine glass slightly. This will allow you to see the intensity of the color. Intensity varies according to four factors: 

The color of wine comes from the maceration of grape skin and juice. If there's a lot of skin and not much juice, the wine will be dark. Conversely, if there is little skin and a lot of juice, the wine will be paler. Note that grape varieties have different juice/skin ratios.

An older wine will tend to be paler. Over time, it will lose its color pigments. The opposite is true of white wine, which tends to get darker with age. 

 - White wine: silver or yellow-green 

 - Red wine: purplish or ruby 

 - White wine: straw yellow or yellow gold 

 - Red wine: clear or garnet-red 

 - White wine: golden or amber 

 - Red wine: tuilé or brownish red. 

This will also affect the intensity of the wine. Thanks to the sun, the grapes ripen more quickly, allowing them to concentrate sugar and color. The sweeter the wine, the darker the color. 

This is why sunny climates tend to produce wines with a darker color. A sweet wine, on the other hand, will be even darker, as it is produced with overripe, and therefore very sweet, wines.

Vinification will also help to manage the intensity of the wine. A long maceration between skin and juice will extract more color pigments, resulting in darker wines. 

It's also important to understand that, despite an identical grape variety, the intensity of the wine can vary according to maceration, duration and temperature.
With these elements in hand, you can begin to establish the wine's identity card before the rest of the tasting, which will be done by nose!