The Colors of the Veraison

Veraison is the onset of the ripening of the grapes and one of the most important moments in a grapevine’s annual lifecycle.

Veraison

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What Veraison means?

As with many viticulture terms, the term Veraison has been adopted to English from French, originally Véraison (veh-ray-zohN) and is used to define the process in which, in this case, the grapes change their color from green to red/purple/dark blue (for red grape varieties) and green to golden (for white grape varieties). Also, in this process, grapes start to lower its acidity and the sugar levels rise, until they are perfectly ripe and ready for harvest. 

After veraison, the grapes begin to dramatically increase in size as they accumulate sugars and start to develop the aroma compounds.

Following the onset of Veraison, the ripening process then takes anywhere from 30–70 days for the grapes to become fully ready to make wine!

When does the Veraison occur?

Northern & Southern Hemispheres

The moment the Veraison occur will depend on which Hemisphere we are talking about.

In the North Hemisphere, Veraison usually begins in July in moderate weather years and in cooler vintages, red grapes sometimes don’t start changing color until August. 

In the South Hemisphere, the onset of the ripening occurs between January and March, depending again of the weather of that vintage and the grape variety.

I think it’s great to visit the wineries that time of the year to witness the change of colors with your own eyes.