white has a special meaning when applied both to grapes and wine. Any light-skinned grape may be called a white grape, even though the grape skin is not white but anything from pale green through gold to pink. In a similar fashion, white wines are not white, but vary in colour from almost colourless to deep gold. See colour.
ยฉ Jancis Robinson and Oxford University Press 1994, 1999, 2006, 2015