It’s a term you hear often in wine notes and among wine drinkers, but what actually are tannins, where do they come from, and why are they important when it comes to wine?
Tannins are a naturally occurring compound, and are present in more food and drink than just wine. You’ve probably tasted tannins if you’ve ever sipped on black tea, snacked on dark chocolate, or seasoned your food with cinnamon or clove.
When you drink wine, you experience tannins in the dry, astringent sensation in the front and middle of your tongue. Tannins find their way into wine when the wine is exposed to the skin, seeds, and stems of a wine grape. This is why red wines are typically higher in tannins than whites – they’re exposed to the fruit skins for a longer period of time. (Wine may also absorb some tannin from exposure to the wood of oak barrels.)
Tannins are essential not only to the flavor and body of a wine, but also are an important component when it comes to how well a wine ages. As time goes by, tannins break down, and that dry, astringent feeling gives way to a smoothness that is beautiful in an aged wine. (Fun fact: Traditional leather tanning used tannins to soften the leather; it’s where the name for the process comes from!)There are lots of other factors that contribute to a well-aged wine, but in general, wine varietals that are higher in tannins age better, while less tannic wines are better enjoyed young.
Some examples of high-tannin wine varietals are Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo, and Petite Sirah, while some varietals lower in tannins are Pinot Noir, Barbera, and Zinfandel. A fun experiment – Try a high tannin varietal of different ages, and see if you can taste the difference!