Controlling skin contact conditions is vital to obtain high quality white wines and it has become a standard procedure in many white wine-production areas. The aim of this work was to investigate the changes in composition and sensory properties of Žilavka wines obtained with different cold skin contact time. Results indicate that cold maceration positively influence the quality of Žilavka wines. The results pointed out significant increase in dry extract, ash, total
phenol and decrease in tartaric acid and higher alcohol content in Žilavka wines obtained by 10 or 20 hours cold maceration period. Best organoleptic quality of Žilavka wines was obtained by cold maceration at 10 °C during 20 hours period.
