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TANNIN
Well we have all heard the word tannin, but what is exactly is it.
Tannin is found naturally in grapes, in the skins, stems and seeds. the seeds of the grapes contain the harshes of tannins so wine producers tend to try to minimise the amounts during the juice extraction by crushing the grapes rather than pressing.
Wine fermented whilst in contact with these parts of the grape will absorb the tannins & wines aged in oak barrels will again absorb more tannin as tannin is found in oak. Over a period of time during the ageing the tannin will mellow the wine and give a great flavour and character.
Some grapes have more tannins than othes. Most tannin is found in red grapes.
High tannins are found in cabernet sauvignon, nebiollo, syra & tannat
Low tannins grapes include merlot & pinot noir.
Quite often grapes with low tannins are mixed with grapes that are high in tannins to give flavours.
Tannin also acts as a preservative. They help to provent the wine from oxidation in the aging of good wines
High tannin wines can be quite hard to drink when young but because of the mellowing over time they well made wines can be great. Many people like to drink high tannin wine with cheese as this takes the edge out of dryness of the wine.
It is the tannin found in the grape that is considered to be be beneficial to health because it contains polyphenols which can help in preventing the arteries from being blocked.
Agents are often used to thin out the tannins during wine production, this is called fining. Natural finings are albuman (egg white) casein & isinglass (products found in animals) and bentonite (clay)
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