Hey everybody, I am your host Jacky Blisson.
Thanks for joining me.
Today we are going to be talking about tannins.
What are they and why do wine geeks love them so much?
So today, it is all about tannins.
You might have noticed that I am drinking tea instead of my usual glass of wine.
Curious?
We'll come back to that a little later on.
I am going to start with a little confession.
I am lousy at science.
I admire scientific minds terrifically, I just don't happen to possess one.
So when I found myself in Burgundy learning about wine science, in French, I was in trouble!
Our professeur starting talking about tannins and I was completely lost.
The scientific explanation goes a little like this: tannins are a class of astringent, soluble,
polyphenolic biomolecules.
Yup, my brain just switched off too.
So let's break that down into simpler terms.
Polyphenols (or tannins) are just organic compounds.
These substances are found in all kinds of foods like berries, barley, nuts, spices (like
cinnamon, cloves), dark chocolate, tea.
In wine grapes, they are found on the skin, in the seeds, and on the stems.
Tannins don't have any flavour but they are quite astringent.
They give a kind of a bitter, drying sensation on the palate.
You might have noticed that white wine doesn't have a whole lot of this bitter, drying sensation
and that is because white wines are pressed off the grapes first - off the skins, the
pips, the stems - and just the juice ferments.
Whereas with red wine, there is also pigments in that grape skin and so red wines are fermented
with their skins to get all of that colour, and also the tannin.
So, different red wines have different tannin levels.
You might have noticed, if you make yourself a cup of black tea, that if you leave the
tea bag in for too long, it steeps for too long, it has a really strong bitter sensation.
That is tannin.
So think about it in terms of red wine.
If a red wine is left to macerate on its skins for a really long time, that tannic sensation
will appear more strong.
But that really depends on the grape.
There are grapes that are just naturally more tannic than others.
Pinot Noir, Gamay, Grenache these are all examples of grapes that don't have a whole
lot of tannin for the most part.
On the other hand, Nebbiolo, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Malbec, these are
all grapes that are higher in tannin, so you are going to get more of that powerful, drying
sensation from them.
So you may be wondering what is to love about a tannic wine?
If it is bitter and drying, that sounds pretty unpleasant.
Why would I want that in my wine?
But, it all comes down to context.
A tannic wine, if it has sufficient body, sufficient fruit, if the tannins are really
just coming through on the finish and just lifting up the wine structurally, it can add
a super interesting dimension that makes the wine a whole lot more complex.
Tannins are a major factor in what helps good quality red wines age.
They contain natural antioxidants that help preserve a wine's aromas and flavours over
time.
Tannins also mellow with age so if you are tasting a really youthful wine that is very
tannic - tae a Barolo for example - it might seem incredibly tannic - like sandpaper on
your tongue.
But if you leave it for 5 - 10 years, those tannins are really going to mellow out and
soften and be really enjoyable.
A quick trick if you don't feel like waiting 10 years to drink your bottle of wine is to
pair that big, bold, tannic wine with a juicy old steak.
The protein in the steak is going to bind with that tannin and make it seem a lot softer
and more mellow on the palate.
As always, thanks for watching.
If you liked the video, and you want to see more, please don't be shy, subscribe, share,
like, and all those wonderful things.
And I will see you next week for another video in the wine structure series.
Santé!