"Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
...
> Jonathan wrote:
> 1) If there is enough fruit (but not sweetness) in the wine, might the
>> tannins ever soften to the point that the wine will actually become
>> smooth?
>
> Yup. That a large part of what bottle aging is all about: the softening
> of tannins with time. In fact, the sediment that forms in older bottles
> of red wine is polymerized tannins (no longer bitter, BTW).
>>
>> 2) Are some tannins just too strong to be overcome? Might the tannins
>> actually overtake the wine as the fruit fades?
>
> Aging not only smoothes out tannins; it also reduces that fruitiness of
> the wine. If a wine starts out *so* tannic, the tannins will outlast the
> fruit and you'll end up with a wine after 20 years of aging that has no
> fruit -- usually, not a pleasant experience.
>
>>
>> 3) This is a wine that causes me to loose a copious amount of epithelial
>> cells from my cheeks. Is this caused by the tannins?
>
> Yup, either that or someone slipped some sandpaper into the glass when you
> weren't looking ;-) That's called "astringency" as is the hallmark of
> rough (green) tannins. With age or exposure to oxygen, that'll go away.
>
> HTH
> Mark Lipton
>
> p.s. Thanks for the thoughts on the '82 G-L. That's an example of a wine
> that was hell of tannic in its youth, and see how it's developed!

> Aging not only smoothes out tannins; it also reduces that fruitiness of
> the wine. If a wine starts out *so* tannic, the tannins will outlast the
> fruit and you'll end up with a wine after 20 years of aging that has no
> fruit -- usually, not a pleasant experience.

So then, it possible to blend one's own wines for reserve, or is that
a "black art" of the grower/Vintner?

--
Streuth