L2: Red Wine Components and Tanins Flashcards
What adds complexity to red wine?
Presence of skins and seeds in fermentation
What do skins provide to red wine?
Pigment
What do seeds provide to red wine?
Bitter taste
What is produced during fermentation when pigment and seeds are combined?
Condensed tanins
What are condensed tanins?
The tanins found in wine after fermentation. Come from skins and seeds combining.
Condensed tannins are the main class found in red wines. They form long chains of various lengths, called polymers. The tannins in red wine contribute to its astringency, or dryness, as well as its perceived bitterness. When you drink wine, tannins react with the proteins in your saliva and create a dry sensation. The strength of the tannin is registered by our trigeminal nerve. In concert with esters, they comprise the typicity of a varietal.
What part of the olfactory system registers tanins?
React with proteins in saliva to create a dry sensation.
Strength is registered by trigeminal nerve.
What type of tanin creates the color in red wine?
Anthocyanin
Wine color is formed during fermentation as a result of the chemical linkage of a special type of tannin, anthocyanin. This is a strong linkage and very important in forming stable color in wines. Anthocyanins are the same compounds that give fruits such as blackberries and raspberries their color, as well as the shades in autumn leaves. In wine, these are the red, blue, or black pigments in grape skins that lend color. Higher concentrations of anthocyanins result in a bluish-black hue and indicates a low acid content in the wine. Conversely, a low amount of anthocyanin in a red wine indicates a high acid content.
When do tanins stop recombining?
Tanins are constantly combining and recombining. They are doing so:
+ During fermenation
+ During aging (e.g., in wood barrel)
+ Up to five years after placing in bottle
Stop after 5 years in bottle, according to Keith
High Acid is what Ph?
Low PH
Low acid is what Ph?
High Ph
Longer lasting wines are higher or lower acid?
Higher acid (e.g., Lower Ph)
**Green vegetal taste in earlier harvested (e.g., high acid) wines; needs more time to develop
What are the big changes from white to red wine flavors
Presence of tanins
Shift to red and dark fruits
How do condensed tanins change favor
Change from orchard, citrus fruit flavors to red and dark fruit flavors
How to tanins feel?
Drying
Grippy
Astringent
Describe Pinot Noir
Acid: High (Medium to High)
Body: Light (Low to Medium)
Tanin: Low (Low to Medium)
Fingerprint: Roses and Barnyard
Other: Ripe cherry, cranberry, pomegranate; under ripe fruits (e.g., under ripe strawberry)
- (= cheat sheet; not ( = Keith in class
