Burgundy

Burgundy is a lovely deep red, the name of a region in France, and of a wine. Lets talk about the colour.

HTML colours

#800020

Burgundy, the colour, is sometimes quoted as #800020 in HTML RGB colour. The numeric RGB equivalent is 128,0,32. The HSV specification is 345°, 50%, 50%. #800020 is a good start because it contains a lot of red, #800000, and a little bit of blue, #000020. Many computer screens are turned up too bright and #800020 washes out to produce a colour too light.

#8b0000

#8b0000 is darkred in the HTML colour name series. You can specify either style="background-color: #8b0000" or style="background-color: darkred". Darkred will not be valid as a background colour name in the next generation of HTML. #8b0000 lacks a blue component and is really a medium vivid ruby colour.

#800000

#800000 is a medium red often incorrectly called burgundy by people with a badly calibrated monitor. #800000 is sufficiently dark to look similar to burgundy but lacks a blue component and is a vivid ruby somewhere between medium and dark.

#660033

#660033 is a safe purplish version of burgundy for devices with low colour resolution and is close to the colour of burgundy wine on many LCD screens. #660033 has the right amount of red, #660000, to balance the blue component for overall brightness but a little too much blue for a true burgundy, #000033, and is closer to purple.

#990033

#990033 is a safe slightly pink version of burgundy for devices with low colour resolution. #990033 appears as a burgundy on some handheld devices and phones with dull screens.

#9e0508

#9e0508 is called burgundy on one Web page. The CMYK specification is 0%, 97%, 95%, 38%. The green component, #000500, contributes nothing to a true burgundy.

#9f1d35

#9f1d35 is called vivid burgundy despite the green content. The numeric RGB equivalent is 159,29,53. The HSV specification is 345°, 55%, 60%.

You might use #9f1d35 when printing with process colour on coated stock or printing on regular paper that will be coated after printing. When you view colours on screen, you are seeing red, green, and blue light added together to make the colour. In printing, you mix cyan, magenta, yellow, and possibly black to make a colour through a subtractive process. The additive process in your computer screen tends to produce colours that are too light. The subtractive printing process tends to produce colours that are too dark so you often start with a colour that is a little bit lighter.

Coated stock (paper or cardboard) is glossy and a glossy finish makes colours look more intense, plus it makes them look darker, another reason to start with a lighter colour. Some printed material is coated with lacquer or plastic after printing and that added coating will make the colours darker.

CMYK

CMYK is Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and blacK. Cyan absorbs red and reflects a blue/green combination. Burgundy is mostly red which means the C should be 0%. Magenta absorbs green and reflects a red/blue combination. We want 100% for M to get the maximum red and some blue. Yellow absorbs blue and reflects a red/green combination. We want a middle value for Y to absorb some blue. K, blacK, makes the colour darker. We want the red at about 50% so set K to 50%. You could set K lower and compensate by setting both M and Y lower.

Pantone

Pantone is a colour system used in printing that sort of translates to the Web. Pantone have a colour named Ruby wine that is close to burgundy. Their colour identifier for Ruby wine is 19-1629. The CMYK value is 0%, 100%, 65%, 55%. When the colour is placed in an image on the web, the colour often translates to #82001f. Examples on the Web are always a problem because the example might be created on an old Apple computer before Apple copied the standard PC graphics system. Assuming the image creator used a modern Apple branded PC, they might use Photoshop or some other Adobe product and have it set for print output instead of Web output.

Region in France

Burgundy is the English name for the French region of Bourgogne. I tried to find a nice Web site for Burgundy but found only pages spoilt by flash animations. Look on any map of France from Paris south to Marseille. The big town in the middle of that line is Lyon, a place once famous for roses, but that is another story. North of Lyon is Dijon, famous for mustard. Burgundy is a narrow thread of land from Dijon to Lyon.

Wine

France owns the name burgundy when applied to wine. Wine is called burgundy only when from the Burgundy region in France. France has additional wine labelling laws and the burgundy region imposes more restrictions. The red wine we usually call burgundy is Pinot Noir. A small number of wineries in California and a large number of wineries in Australia produce beautiful Pinot Noir. When it is too cold in France to enjoy a visit to a wine district, visit the Tamar Valley and Mornington Peninsular in Australia. Fly in to Melbourne to visit the Mornington Peninsular then catch a local flight to Launceston to visit the Tamer Valley.

Burgundy also produces white wine from Chardonnay grapes and the white wine is also called burgundy by the French. The Mornington Peninsular and Yarra Valley, both near Melbourne, produce a wide range of chardonnays that beat French chardonnays in many areas. When you are in France, import duties and taxes make French wine the best choice but many lower priced French wines lack a professional finish and are wildly variable. Outside of France, Australian wines are better value for money plus have a more consistent professional finish. Australian wines go through rigorous expert controls to ensure consistency for a given brand and style.

For anybody from the northern hemisphere, a winter holiday in sunny Australia is great value. Adding a huge range of superb wines readily available at comparatively low prices is a bonus. When you are planning a holiday in Australia and want some tips on the wine regions, use the contact page to send me your questions.

Back to the colour

Burgundy is a beautiful colour. There are few true burgundies in nature. Some rubies have a touch of blue that makes them close to burgundy. Some wines go through a burgundy colour for several years then start aging to a ruby colour. Raspberries can be close to burgundy. A mixture of raspberries and blueberries or strawberries and blueberries is close. The strong red and hints of blue in many berries are signs of fresh well ripened fruit containing powerful antioxidants.

Burgundy indicates health and strength, two reasons why I use the colour on both my Web site and for Wahroonga Web Works.