What exactly are tannins?!
What exactly are tannins?
How do they affect a wine's taste?
Answers:
Tannins (mainly condensed tannins) are also found in wine, particularly red wine. Tannins in wine can come from many sources and the tactile properties differ depending on the source. Tannins in grape skins and seeds (the latter being especially harsh) tend to be more noticeable in red wines, which are fermented while in contact with the skins and seeds. Tannins extracted from grapes are condensed tannins, which are polymers of procyanidin monomers. Hydrolysable tannins are extracted from the oak wood the wine is aged in. Hydrolysable tannins are more easily oxidised than condensed tannins.
Modern winemakers take great care to minimize undesirable tannins from seeds by crushing grapes gently to extract their juice. Pressing the grapes results in press wine which is more tannic and might be kept separately. Wines can also take on tannins if matured in oak or wood casks with a high tannin content. Tannins play an important role in preventing oxidation in aging wine and appear to polymerize and make up a major portion of the sediment in wine.
Recently, a study in wine production and consumption has shown that tannins in the form of procyanidins, have a beneficial effect on vascular health. The study showed that tannins suppressed production of the peptide responsible for hardening arteries. To support their findings, the study also points out that wines from the regions of southwest France and Sardinia are particularly rich in procyanidins, and that these regions also produce populations with longer life spans.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tannin...
Biff Tannin was actually what you would refer to as the villian in the Back to the Future movies. "Make like a tree and get the hell out of here."
~~~ Hi y.s.d. I did a quick search on tannins for the heck of it,as I've never heard of them before. I also read what the first person to answer you said. They got the same info as me. Interesting stuff. Also tannins were once upon a time used to tan animal hides to turn them into leather. Tannins is a noun as if you didn't know.Well,now I've got some more unuseful trivia stuck up in my jumbled brain. Thanks.~~~
Wow, Legolas is quite the vinophile!
(Can we all say, 'procyanidins,' together?)
Besides that, grape tannins give wine many good things. They age better with higher tannins at first and many being 'thrown' as sediment in time. They add to the mouthfeel of a wine; you can experience them in the middle of the tongue to the back.
But writing about wine is like dancing about architecture; it needs to be experienced!
You're makin' me thirsty, Yellowdawg!
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Tannins are astringent, bitter-tasting plant polyphenols that bind and precipitate proteins. The term tannin refers to the source of tannins used in tanning animal hides into leather; however, the term is widely applied to any large polyphenolic compound containing sufficient hydroxyls and other suitable groups (such as carboxyls) to form strong complexes with proteins and other macromolecules. Tannins have molecular weights ranging from 500 to over 3,000.[1]
Tannins are usually divided into hydrolyzable tannins and condensed tannins (proanthocyanidins). At the center of a hydrolyzable tannin molecule, there is a polyol carbohydrate (usually D-glucose). The hydroxyl groups of the carbohydrate are partially or totally esterified with phenolic groups such as gallic acid (in gallotannins) or ellagic acid (in ellagitannins). Hydrolyzable tannins are hydrolyzed by weak acids or weak bases to produce carbohydrate and phenolic acids. Condensed tannins, also known as proanthocyanidins, are polymers of 2 to 50 (or more) flavonoid units that are joined by carbon-carbon bonds, which are not susceptible to being cleaved by hydrolysis. While hydrolyzable tannins and most condensed tannins are water soluble, some very large condensed tannins are insoluble.
Tannins may be employed medicinally in antidiarrheal, hemostatic, and antihemorrhoidal compounds. Also, they produce different colors with ferric chloride (either blue, blue black, or green to greenish black) according to the type of tannin.
Examples of gallotannins are the gallic acid esters of glucose in tannic acid (C76H52O46), found in the leaves and bark of many plant species.