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+--- Thread: tannins (/thread-18726.html)
- TJT - 08-30-2004
What is tannin in a wine? Do some wines have less tannin? I like red wines, but I do not like the ones that make my mouth pucker like eating a lemon. Can you suggest a red wine that I might like?
- Innkeeper - 08-31-2004
Hi TJT and welcome to the Wine Board. Tannin is essentially what makes red wine red. It is the substance that results from leaving the juice of the grape in contact with the skin. Depending on the grape variety and length of contact with the skins, the wine will be more or less tannic. If the tannin seems excessive, a balanced wine will neutralize the effect of it over time. Most, by not all, wines that seem too tannic, can be "fixed" by aging.
- Thomas - 08-31-2004
As IK said, tannin is extracted during fermentation from the grape skins. The reason red wine contains more tannin than white is that whites are not fremented on the skins--they are pressed before fermentation; red is pressed after fermentation.
Tannin also comes from aging wine in oak.
When there is a lot of tannin in wine your tongue and mouth get to feel like they are being scraped or they have been invaded by cotton. Tannin also gives off a bitter aftertaste. Tea is loaded with tannin too.
The pucker you refer to sounds more like a reaction to tartaric acid in wine than of tannin.
- wondersofwine - 08-31-2004
You might try a Beaujolais Villages wine (Gamay grape) such as the 2002 Louis Jadot one. This does not seem tannic or puckery. You might also try a Steele Pinot Noir from California if you can find one or Villa Mt. Eden Pinot Noir or Bogle Merlot or Seghesio Zinfandel. None of these is a particularly tannic wine. Let us know how you like them and we can make additional suggestions. Or from Italy try a Valpolicella or Lambrusco.