Black wine guide

Black wine simply refers to incredibly dark-hued, inky purple wines. There are a few dark-skinned grape varieties that are known to create black wines. The most well-known being Saperavi from Georgia and Malbec grown in Cahors, south-west France.

All wine gets its colour from grape skin – the darker the skin, and the more time the juice spends with it during winemaking, the more pigment will end up in the finished product. A very small handful of grapes get an extra colour boost from their flesh. These are known as teinturier grapes and one of these special grape varieties is the Saperavi. 

Saperavi is an indigenous grape variety from Kakheti in Georgia, one of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world. The name Saperavi, means “to dye or give colour.” It’s synonymous with very full-bodied, high tannin, ageworthy wines. They characteristically match well with rich meat dishes, like roast lamb and ragout, and hearty vegetables, such as oyster mushrooms.

As mentioned, this Georgian grown grape variety is a great example of a teinturier grape. A teinturier grape is red grape that has both dark skins and flesh. Different to a regular red wine grape, which has dark skin, and a clear flesh or juice. Rather fittingly, the word ‘teinturier’ comes from the French “to dye or stain.” In addition to Saperavi, Alicante Bouschet and Chambourcin, are examples of these dark grape varieties. They are a bit special, as you don’t commonly see these at most vineyards.