The aim of the study was to determine the relevance of microorganisms present during the carbonic maceration vinification in the specific attributes of young red wines produced by this method. For this purpose, wines were made by the two winemaking methods: carbonic maceration and the standard method of destemming and crushing, starting from the same batch of grapes. The microbiological population of the initial grapes was homogenised by means of a “pied de cuve”, and afterwards, the microbial evolution (yeasts, lactic acid and acetic acid bacteria) was followed in different fermentation stages. Finally, the wines obtained were analysed and tasted. After homogenising the initial microbiota, small microbiological differences were detected both in the counts of microorganisms and in the species involved. Nevertheless, the wines obtained were remarkably different, both in their chemical composition and in their organoleptic characteristics. This would indicate that, although the microbiota present could influence some of the characteristics of carbonic maceration wines, the main factor that determines the unique characteristics of these wines is their particular production procedure based in the intracellular fermentation. •Carbonic Maceration (CM) wines are special in chemical and organoleptic characteristics.•No differences were detected in microorganisms involved in CM and in traditional methods.•Characteristics of CM wines are due to winemaking method based in intracellular fermentation.•CM vinification makes possible to obtain a part of wine with a lower alcohol content.