Red Wine vs White Wine: Grapes, Taste, Food and Serving

The real difference between red wine and white wine is the grape skins. Red wine ferments with the skins of dark grapes, which give it color and tannin, the drying grip you feel on your gums. White wine is pressed off its skins before fermentation, so it stays pale, light in tannin and usually crisper. That one step explains most of what follows: how they taste, what food they suit and how cold to serve them. Calories, on the other hand, are almost identical.

Red vs white wine at a glance

	Red wine	White wine
Grapes	Dark-skinned (red or “black”) grapes	Usually green-skinned grapes; sometimes dark grapes pressed quickly
Skin contact	Ferments with the skins	Juice pressed off the skins before fermenting
Color	Ruby to purple-black, from skin pigments	Pale straw to gold
Tannin	Low to high, depending on grape	Very low, often none
Typical flavors	Red and black fruit, earth, spice	Citrus, orchard and tropical fruit, flowers
Serve at (Wine Folly)	55–60°F light reds; 60–68°F bold reds	38–45°F light whites; 44–55°F full whites
Classic food match	Red meat, mushrooms, tomato sauces	Seafood, salads, chicken, creamy sauces
Calories, 5 oz (USDA)	About 125	About 121

How red and white wine are made

Both start the same way: grapes are picked and crushed, and yeast turns the grape sugar into alcohol. The University of Adelaide’s guide to the winemaking process describes where they split:

• White wine: the crushed grapes are pressed before fermentation. Only the juice goes into the tank, and the guide gives a cool fermentation temperature, around or below 20°C (68°F).
• Red wine: the juice ferments together with the skins. The skins rise to form a thick “cap,” which the winemaker keeps working back into the juice to extract color and flavor compounds, including the red pigments called anthocyanins. The wine is pressed only after fermentation, and it may soak on the skins for longer.

This is why color tells you nothing certain about the grape. The Comité Champagne points out that even when a grape is black-skinned, its juice is always white; it only darkens when the skins macerate in it. Most Champagne is white although two of its three main grapes, Pinot Noir and Meunier, are dark-skinned.

Tannin: the biggest difference in taste

Wine Spectator explains that tannins sit mainly in grape skins and seeds, and that white wines contain very low levels of grape tannin, some none at all. In red wine, tannin causes the drying, astringent feel in your mouth. New oak barrels can add a small amount of tannin to either color.

Not all reds are equally tannic. Wine Folly’s style guide groups reds by body:

• Light reds such as Pinot Noir and Gamay, with lighter tannin.
• Medium reds such as Merlot, Sangiovese and Grenache.
• Full reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Malbec and Zinfandel, with the most tannin.

Whites are grouped instead by weight and aroma: light dry whites (Sauvignon Blanc, Albariño, Vermentino), aromatic whites (Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Muscat, Chenin Blanc) and full-bodied whites (oaked Chardonnay, Viognier). Without tannin, a white wine’s backbone comes from acidity, the mouth-watering freshness that makes it taste crisp. Our guides to types of red wine and types of white wine chart every common grape by body, tannin and acidity.

In our view, the easiest bridge between the two is a light red such as Pinot Noir or Beaujolais: it has red-wine flavors with very little of the grip that puts some white wine drinkers off.

Sweetness: neither color is sweeter by default

Most red and white table wines are dry, meaning the yeast fermented nearly all the grape sugar. USDA FoodData Central’s entries show it: about 0.9 grams of sugar in 5 ounces of red table wine and about 1.4 grams in white (our conversion of USDA’s figures per 100 grams, using its 147-gram portion). Sweetness depends on the style, not the color. Moscato and many Rieslings are sweet or off-dry whites; Port and Brachetto d’Acqui are sweet reds. If sugar is what you’re comparing, our low sugar wine guide explains the label terms.

Food pairing: weight, tannin and acid

The old rule “red with meat, white with fish” works, in our view, because of tannin and weight rather than color. A firm red tends to feel smoother next to a fatty steak, while with delicate fish the same tannin can taste harsh and a white’s acidity acts like a squeeze of lemon.

Wine Folly’s style guide gives these groups:

Wine style	Pair with
Light-bodied red	Mushroom risotto, coq au vin, chicken in cream sauce, poultry
Medium-bodied red	Lasagna, red-sauce pizza, burgers, roasted vegetables
Full-bodied red	Steak, barbecue, smoked meats, Mexican food
Light dry white	Seafood, sushi, green salads, pesto, fried food
Aromatic white	Indian and Thai food, citrusy dishes, pungent cheeses
Full-bodied white	Crab and lobster, cream-sauce pasta, white pizza, soft cheeses

Notice how much overlap there is. Poultry appears under light reds and whites alike, and salmon works with both a light red and a fuller white. We’d let the sauce decide: tomato and red wine sauces lean red, cream and citrus sauces lean white. For more on matching by dish, see our guides to wine and food pairing and wine with steak.

Serving temperature

Both colors are often served at the wrong temperature: reds too warm, whites too cold. Wine Folly’s serving chart:

Style	Serve at
Sparkling and light-bodied white	38–45°F (3–7°C)
Rosé and full-bodied white	44–55°F (7–12°C)
Light and medium-bodied red	55–60°F (12–15°C)
Bold red	60–68°F (15–20°C)

Wine Folly’s rule of thumb: if a wine smells strongly of alcohol, it’s too warm; if it tastes flat, it may be too cold. If your room is warmer than 68°F, we’d give a bottle of red about 15 minutes in the fridge before opening, and take a rich white such as oaked Chardonnay out of the fridge 10 to 15 minutes before pouring.

Tip: In our view, an opened bottle of either color is best kept in the fridge with the cork back in. Take a red out about half an hour before dinner to warm up again.

Calories and alcohol

USDA FoodData Central, the US government’s food composition database, lists 85 calories per 100 grams for red table wine and 82 for white. At USDA’s 147-gram portion for 5 fluid ounces, that’s about 125 calories for red and 121 for white. The gap is small because most calories in wine come from alcohol, and USDA’s two entries have similar alcohol (10.6 and 10.3 grams per 100 grams).

So the bottle’s alcohol by volume (ABV) matters more than its color: a 14.5% Zinfandel carries more calories than an 11% Riesling. Our wine alcohol content guide lists typical ABV by style.

Note: This guide compares wine styles, not health effects. We don’t make health claims for red or white wine. If you have questions about alcohol and your health, ask your doctor.

Which should you choose?

There’s no better color, only a better match for the moment. A few rules of thumb from the facts above, in our view:

• You dislike drying, bitter drinks: start with a crisp white, or a light red such as Pinot Noir or Gamay.
• You’re serving steak, lamb or barbecue: a medium or full red, whose tannin suits fat and protein.
• You’re serving seafood, salads or spicy Asian food: a light or aromatic white.
• It’s hot outside: a well-chilled white or rosé, or a light red served cool.
• You can’t decide: a dry rosé or a light red covers more of the table than either extreme.

Wine is for adults of legal drinking age (21 in the US). Please drink responsibly.