Cover wine

Cover wine describes a very colorful red wine made from dark grape varieties ( dye grapes ), which is specially grown for the purpose of improving the color of wines with a weak color, such as Portuguese or Trollinger .

According to the German Wine Act, a maximum of 15 percent of a wine labeled with a certain grape variety may come from another grape variety. In most cases, however, 5 percent is sufficient to achieve the purpose of color enhancement.

A grape variety that used to be and is still often used as a cover wine is the Dornfelder . In the meantime, Dornfelder is also successfully pressed as an independent wine.

Complexion

French term for all cover wine varieties that have been specially bred to give more color to weak red wines. Most of the Teinturier vines are based on the dark-colored Teinturier du Cher , which was crossed with pale Aramon to produce the Petit Bouschet variety . The Petit Bouschet, which is still widely grown in France today, was then crossed into the Teinturier grape in numerous attempts.