Tannins in wine

In wine, tannins are part of the so-called “structure” of taste. It is because of them, the wine seems dry.

Tannin is a polyphenol of natural origin, found in plants, seeds, bark, wood, leaves, and peel of the fruit. In the leaves of plants they constitute up to 50% dry matter.

Wine tannins are found mainly in red wines. In white they can appear as a result of aging in barrels.

What tannins taste like?

On the palate the wine tannins give a bitter and astringent sensation of astringency. Strong black tea without sugar is almost pure taste of tannin, dissolved in water.

At the same time, tannins give red wine its complexity.

They felt basically the middle part of the tongue and the front part of the mouth.

Where are tannins in wine?

Two possible sources of tannins in wine is grapes and wood (barrels).

Grape tannins are present in the skin of berries, seeds, combs (“tassels”, for which the berries cling to the branch).

This is why red wines tannins much more: in the process of making the wort for a long time in contact with skins of berries (and sometimes with ridges), and the tannins have time to dissolve in water and alcohol. (see maceration)

Some varieties and types of wines are more tannic than others (for example, Nebbiolo, used to make the famous Italian Barolo is vysokotochnye grade).

Other examples:

Tannins from the barrel pass into the wine as a result of direct contact with the wood during fermentation and aging. As a rule, oak barrels, because they bring in the wine interesting flavors (e.g., vanilla).

But it may not be a whole barrel. Increasingly, the wine used oak chips, boards from the barrels and other wood materials and even tannin powder since it is much cheaper. The whole barrel can be used in the manufacture of wine up to 70 years.

Tannins – benefit or harm?

Health – good

There are studies on the influence of wine and tea tannin on oxidative processes in the body. Tests have shown that tannins prevent the wine to them, and tea – no. Ie wine tannins – this is very useful.

And the head they are not sick? There is no conclusive evidence linking tannins with a headache (migraine). In General, to eliminate tannins from your diet, you will have to abandon such foods high in their content, like chocolate, nuts, fresh Apple juice, tea, pomegranate and, of course, wine.

For the development of wine – well

Red wines capable of long aging, the tannins were a key element of this ability.