Traditional and Emerging Maceration Techniques in Red Winemaking: Extraction Mechanisms Shaping Phenolic Composition, Volatile Profile, and Sensory Expression

Maceration is one of the most important tools available to winemakers for shaping the chemical composition, sensory profile, and overall style of red wines. However, understanding the consequences of different maceration choices remains challenging due to the diversity of available techniques, the complexity of extraction phenomena, and the fragmented nature of the available literature, which spans a wide range of technological strategies, cultivars, vintages, winemaking conditions, and analytical approaches. This review thus provides a comprehensive overview of traditional, advanced and emerging maceration techniques used in red winemaking. Conventional approaches, including pre-fermentative cold maceration, fermentative maceration, extended post-fermentative maceration, whole-bunch fermentation, and carbonic maceration, are discussed alongside technological modifications such as cryoextraction, thermovinification, flesh-release and Accentuated Cut Edges, as well as emerging and non-thermal technologies including pulsed electric fields, ultrasound, high-pressure processing, microwaves and ohmic heating. Particular attention is given to the mechanisms governing extraction, with emphasis on how processing conditions and tissue-disruption phenomena influence grape cell wall integrity, membrane permeability, and the release of targeted constituents from different grape tissues. Finally, the advantages, limitations, and practical implications of each technique are highlighted for researchers and winemakers, indicating the need for an integrated consideration of chemical, microbiological, sensory, technological, and economic factors when optimizing red wine production.