I don't understand the appeal of tannic wines.
Do people really like a drink which makes one
pucker?

My take on tannins is, it's useful (necessary?)
for aging. Over time, the wine smooths out.
But this implies that tannic and 'unsmooth' is
not intended to be drunk young.

So I don't get it, when a reviewer recommends
a tannic wine.

Also, I'm not clear on acidic vs .....? Can
anyone recommend any acidic vs. non-acidic
wines - specific labels and vintages - that
I can taste side by side?

--
Rich

Some people like actringency (the effect of tannin), some don't. We
don't all have to be the same. I often like to feel some astringency,
but not so it dominates my impression of the wine. You will also find
you notice the astringency less if you drink the wine with protein-rich
foods. Indeed many people think astringency is required with certain
types of food, e.g. fatty meats.

I presume you are from the US, so cannot recommend readily available
wines to help you understand acidity. But I learned with lemon juice in
water. Note which parts of your tongue are stimulated by the sparp
flavour. Despite what some textbooks say, the areas sensitive to
acidity vary from person to person. And while you have the lemon juice
solution, try adding varying amounts of sugar to parts of it and try
them side by side. And compare with the sames amounts of sugar in water
with no lemon juice. That helps you understand that sugar reduces the
perception of acidity, and acidity reduces the perception of sugar.
This balance is often important with white wines.

On 05/02/2011 06:03, RichD wrote:
> I don't understand the appeal of tannic wines.
> Do people really like a drink which makes one
> pucker?
>
> My take on tannins is, it's useful (necessary?)
> for aging. Over time, the wine smooths out.
> But this implies that tannic and 'unsmooth' is
> not intended to be drunk young.
>
> So I don't get it, when a reviewer recommends
> a tannic wine.
>
> Also, I'm not clear on acidic vs .....? Can
> anyone recommend any acidic vs. non-acidic
> wines - specific labels and vintages - that
> I can taste side by side?
>
> --
> Rich


--
www.winenous.co.uk