What is a tannin anyway?

There are plenty of wine terms out there that everyone, including me, uses when they drink wine, but don’t really know the meaning of. Or maybe we think we know it, but do we really? Most of what I know about wine that I’ve picked up over the years comes from different sources. How do you know whether it is actually true? And what is a tannin anyway?

Something I talk about a lot on the blog when I’m describing wine is tannins. I often use this word to describe what the wine tastes like, and how it sits in your mouth. However, this blog is all about bringing wine back to basics, and not using these sorts of wine terms. I’ve realised I am falling victim to using the industry terminology, and that not all my readers may understand exactly what I am talking about!

So I decided what better to write about than to explain this commonly used wine term so that you’ll know what it means when you see it. I find it is such a commonly used term when it comes to wine, but until writing this I didn’t even fully understand it! Don’t worry if you don’t either, these sorts of terms can be confusing and make wine less accessible. But once you unlock the knowledge you’ll be ready to taste tannins all over the place!

Why use the word tannin?

The first time I heard of tannins was in a How I met your Mother episode. It still resonates with me today because I feel exactly like Marshall did in this episode more often than not. They invite friends over for a wine tasting. Marshall is keen to crack open the wine but is told by their friend that he can’t drink it yet because of the tannins. He says: “In order for the tannins to mellow, we should let it breathe for about 30 minutes.” For the rest of the episode, he grows more impatient as he is told again and again that he can’t take it anymore and leaves his own house for a drink that he can have without any “Freaking Tannins”.

Needless to say, before I was a big wine-drinking I thought that tannins must be a stuffy wine term that didn’t really mean anything. Most articles about wine use it to describe the wine, and like quaffing I figured it was just another term that only some people understood. However, as I’ve started to learn more about wine, I’ve realised that it isn’t just another wine term, it actually means something. It can be used to describe the taste you get from your wine, how it sits in your mouth, and as such explaining wine without it just doesn’t get you far. Unfortunately, this means that this is one wine term I can’t live without. But there is always room for bringing understanding to these terms so we can all use them without fear! This is no stuffy wine term after all.

What does it mean?

I’ve done a bit of digging into the word tannin so you don’t have to. The textbook definition is that it is a naturally occurring polyphenol found in plants, seeds, bark, wood, leaves, and fruit skins. You can get Tannins from other things apart from wine, black tea being the best example (one article suggested licking a used tea bag to taste the tannins in tea…that’s a hard pass from me), however, it is mostly used when describing wine.

When it comes to wine tannins, they can come from two places: the grape or wood. They come from the stems, seeds and skins of the grape, and for wood, these come from either exposure to oak barrels or chips added to the wine.  This is why you’ll find red wines more tannic than white because their creation requires more grape skin contact to get their colour. They are also more likely to be aged in oak barrels, so generally get a double dose of these tannins! Depending on how long they are in contact with the grape skin, seeds or stems also impacts the tannins in the wine: the longer this process is, the more tannic the wine.

How will I know I am drinking a tannic wine?

Tannins aren’t so much a flavour as much as a feeling you get when you taste wine. The best way I’ve had it described is that a tannic wine will make you purse your lips. This action, I have learnt now, comes from scientifically what the tannin is doing to your mouth.

Tannins are what makes a wine dry, so varying levels of tannins in the wine will make it drier. Whenever you drink a wine that creates a drying sensation in your mouth, that is the tannins working their magic. Depending on how dry your mouth feels, you can determine how tannic the wine is.

Although tannic wines can be explained as ‘dry’, this often confuses them with a discussion about dryness and sweetness. Whilst other wine varieties can have these descriptors, tannic wines go beyond this and shouldn’t be compared on a dry vs sweet level. The real effect comes from the touch and texture of the wine.

I’m probably about to gross you out, but I’m going to do it anyway. When you drink a tannic wine, the tannins bind with the proteins in your saliva. Still, think red wine is sexy? Me too. The tannins break down this saliva that lubricates your mouth, causing a dry sensation.

Are tannins a bad thing?

It depends on your palate and what you’re drinking the wine with. Tannic wines are best enjoyed with rich foods to help balance out the flavour. They really complement a meal, and without one can be a little too bold.

Tannins quickly fatigue your palate without food. This is why you’ll sometimes find yourself on a wine tour, you have a couple of heavy reds, and next thing you know everything tastes incredible. You sign up to a wine club, buy a few cartons, and then when you crack open those amazing wines you realise they weren’t so good after all.

There is nothing wrong with tannic wines, and it hasn’t been proven that they give you headaches. They are pleasant to drink, and really enjoyable if you like heavier wines.

Why Tannins are important

The two main reasons that tannins are important is age and complexity in the wine.

Wines that are tannic are made for aging. Without the tannins, they just won’t be able to be stored and developed over time. This is why it isn’t best to age white wines, as they don’t have the length on them that a red variety has in the bottle. Aging wine is important with tannic wines as it allows the flavours to develop, and you end up with an awesome bottle

The other reason for tannins is that they create complexity in the wine. You always hear wine critics speaking about the complexity of flavour in wine (you know, the blueberry and cut grass notes), and without tannins, this complexity wouldn’t exist. Extracting the characteristics of the tannins and allowing the wine to develop brings new tastes and smells to the wine that you wouldn’t get without them present. It would be a pretty bland world without tannins!

How do I know if a wine is tannic?

Generally, the tannic nature of wine will depend on where it gets its tannins from. Tannins from the grape skin will tend to be really astringent, meaning that when the wine is young it is quite abrasive. Generally, the younger the wine, the more coarse tannins there will be. However, wines that are deep in colour will also be more tannic generally as they have had a longer winemaking process to draw out this colour.

Cheap red wines will also tend to be more tannic due to more wine seeds in the process. They may not press the wine as gently as required, and so more seeds enter the wine, causing more tannins. This is why you might get an unpleasant texture from that $3 glass of house red at the pub.

When it comes to oak tannins, the longer they are in the barrel the more tannic. However, you’ll find the tannic feeling is shorter than those created by contact from the grape.

For the most part, these tannic situations are mellowed out by waiting. Yep – Marshall’s friends were right. In the case of tannins created by grapes, age will allow the tannins to mellow. If you leave an oaked wine out for 1-2 hours, it will really bring the tannins down and make the wine much more pleasant to drink.

What varieties are tannic?

The final word

So are tannins good or not? Well if you are a Marshall type and just want to drink your wine, probably not. Tannins tend to lend themselves to aging, breathing and eating with food. But if you enjoy complex wines that are aged, and you want something you can enjoy with food, these wines are your friend.

Tannins shouldn’t be seen as a tasting note, but rather a characteristic of the wine that creates a texture in your mouth. If it makes you want to pucker your lips, you know it’s tannic. But it all comes down to personal preference. If you like tannic wines, I hope this article has helped you articulate that more! If you don’t, well hopefully you still learnt something about wine!