Kinnegar Wines , Importers of fine selected wines

Colour in white wine come from a polyphenol called flavonoid (flavus = yellow in Latin) which is found in the skin of the grape. Flavonoid levels appear to be a linked to sunlight exposure and ripeness levels. Bunches exposed to the sun tend to have higher flavonoid levels. Wines made from very ripe grapes tend to be more yellow in colour. Studies undertaken in Australia have not found a correlation between flavonoid levels and wine quality.

Of the white grape varieties, Chardonnay has particularly high levels of flavonoids and shows a great increase in flavonoids when the bunches are exposed to direct sunlight. In Elgin, due to our cool climate and less sunlight hours per day in the growing season, we tend to have lower flavonoid levels in our Chardonnay.