Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Acidity, Tannins and Balance in Wine ~ Session 3

Well, it's been 3 sessions and Jennifer and I are quite pleased with how the study group is going! The two of us are learning a TON, and we really enjoy passing on the knowledge to our group. Session 3 was all about learning how to taste for acidity and tannin in wine. We learned the importance of the two, and how it all works together to achieve that special balance we all look for in a glass of wine.


Acid in Wine:

Acidity is the easiest of the four bastic tastes to imagine without actually tasting it, and your tongue reacts the most strongly to acidity. We asked the group members to sniff some vinegar and take a taste of a lemon to experiment with what happens. As we noticed in our activity, sourness is a measure of acidity. When we took a whiff of the vinegar, we noticed that the edges of our tongue curled up in anticipation of how it might taste. The lemon highlighted that pop of sour that often occurs when something is acidic.

Balancing Sweetness and Acidity:
Sweetness and acidity work closely together to achieve the right taste and balance. The sweeter the wine, the more acid is needed to keep it from being considered cloying (Overly, sickly sweet) Consider making spaghetti sauce or lemonade. In order to counterbalance the acid in the tomato sauce or the lemons, sugar is added, thus bringing the result into a good balance. This balance is important to the winemaking process. If a wine is too high in acid, it is considered green or tart. If a wine has the right amount of acidity, it can be considered crisp or fresh. If a wine does not have enough acidity, it is considered flat or flabby. Alternatively, if a red wine has too much acidity, it can taste biting or “sharp”. To put it simply: The sweeter it is, the more acid you need, and vice versa.

A note on food pairing: In general, you want to pair an acidic wine with acidic foods. For instance, Sauvignon Blanc would pair well with salads that have vinegar based dressings, while Chardonnay would go well with less acidic foods. Barbara tends to be one of my favorite pizza or red sauce pasta wines, because of the acid in the tomato sauce.

Tannins in wine:
Tannins are considered a sensation of the mouth, rather than a taste. One can associate tannins in strong tea, and the thin skin on walnuts. (Try eating a walnut and feel the sensation in your mouth...tannins!) The sensation of tannins in the mouth will begin by puckering up the inside of the mouth and drying it out completely. Tannins come from the thickness of the grape skins, the stems and the seeds. The longer a winemaker leaves the wine to rest with the skins, the more opportunity for tannins to seep into the wine. Wood barrels also have an effect on how tannic a wine is. The newer the cask, and the less it’s been charred, the more tannins seep into the wine.Wines with a high degree of tannins are not necessarily created for drinking right away. They act as a sort of preservative to prolong the active life of a great red wine. (Janis Robinson~How to Taste) Ideally, tannins in a wine will break down over time and help to combine with other elements in the wine to knit together certain flavor elements. Examples would be Cabernet Sauvignons and Petite Sirahs. These wines are often made to lay down so the tannins will soften, and the fruit and other flavor elements will combine together over time for a pleasantly balanced wine. Over time, the wine mellows and will eventually drop out of the wine to form sediment.

Jennifer had enjoyed this bottle of cabernet for a special occasion. She reported that it was an amazing wine, and noticed that the tannins had "fallen off" over time to create sediment left in the bottle. If you look closely at the neck, you might be able to see the sediment clinging to the side.

***The difference between acid and tannin: pay attention to how your mouth feels after drinking the wine. Tannins will leave your mouth completely dry, while acid will make you salivate in response to the dry feeling

Wine stars of the evening...

Katheryn Kennedy 2010 Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc is a typically acidic white wine. This one was quite balanced in the acidity and had a crisp and refreshing taste to it.

2008 Trimbach Riesling We chose a Riesling to show how a wine that can be typically sweet, can also be balanced with acid. This one was definitely not sweet, but not overly acidic as well. It was considered very interesting and a fun wine to study.

2007 Trefethen Cabernet Sauvignon
This cab proved to be bold with firm tannins. The tannins were not overly harsh, and shows that over time they will soften out, creating a lovely wine. While it was too oaky for some, several of us really enjoyed it.

2008 J. Lohr Petite Sirah This wine was chosen for its soft tannins, even though petite sirahs can be harsh at times. Again considered oaky, it was a definite hit among a few of our members.








Point to Ponder...

As you are sipping wines, evaluate them for their levels of acidity and tannin. Is it crisp and refreshing, or flabby and flat? Are the tannins firm and structured, or do they leave your feeling uncomfortably dry? It's important to note these things when tasting wine so you know what to look for to please your palate!

Happy Sipping!

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