The structure of wine

Tannins, Alcohol, Acid, Sugar, Body, Flavor Concentration

Tannins

Tannins are tiny solid particles that come from the grape skin, seeds and stalks – as well as exposure to wood (generally oak). Tastes need to evaluate both the quantity and quality of the tannins. Tannins are found in all red wines, playing a leading role. White wines have very little tannins because most of them are not fermented on the skins.

One can identify tannins when it feels astringent and physically dry in the mouth – especially on the tongue and gums. They play a significant part of a red wine’s structure. Tannins are the ‘backbone’ of the wine on which the other elements rest. They give firmness and help a wine to age gracefully by acting as a preservative. 

To better understand the right quantity and quality of the tannins in wine we must focus on the texture rather then the flavor of the tannins. Fine tannins feel silky, velvety and elegant. A wine that’s low in tannins can be too soft and wine high in tannin will feel tight and hard, almost painful to drink. Some quality wines designed to age should not be drunk young because they will be too tannic.

Alcohol

Alcohol, technically it’s ethanol, is a byproduct produced in the fermentation of grape sugars. It’s what made the first wine-drinker abandon fruit juice.

The best winemakers must pay very close attention to the right quantity of alcohol in wine. Because, if it is too low, the wine will be too light and will taste more like fruit juice. On the other hand, if is too high it will taste burning, bitter and hot.

The best way to recognize it is when one feels a warm sensation in the nose and mouth. It feels hot more intensely sensed in the back of the throat, and can have a sweet-tasting aspect. Quality wines should never feel “hot” or burning in the throat.

Alcohol also acts as a preservative and is the primary difference between wine and fruit juice. It is recommended to be consumed reliably. 

 Acid

Acid is an assembly of chemical compounds, which presents a sharp, or sour taste to wine and food. The acids found in wine are tartaric, malic and lactic.

 When one drinks wine you can identify acid by a tingling feeling particularly along the side of the tongue and prickle behind the jaw. It tastes tart and your mouth salivates.

Acidity plays a significant role in wine. It gives wine freshness and makes it feel like a squeeze of lemon in a soda. The higher the acidity, the dryer a wine seems. It also balances sweetness and helps to make very full-bodied wines better balanced.

Besides that, it protects wine from bacteria and acts as a preservative. The right quantity of acidity is crucial because too much makes the wine sour or overly tart and too little acid makes it flat, flabby or dead.

Sugar

Sweetness means the presence of perceptible residual sugar (RS). It is only referring to sugar levels and it has nothing to do with fruitiness. It is more common to find sweetness in white wines, and most dessert wines are white. Red wines are almost always dry, but even in the dry wine category some are drier then others. New world reds often have more RS then old world reds.

Sugar makes wine taste sweeter and feel fuller. It accentuates the fruitiness of the wine and helps to bring out the flavor.  It can be recognized when one smells  wine and it appears ‘rounder and corpulent ’and on the taste feels smoother and less tart. It can be savored anywhere on the tongue, sweetness is most intensely sensed towards the front of the tongue.

 Quality wines can be dry, off-dry but also, sweet and semi-sweet. There’s no right amount, the most important thing is that sugar and acidity are balanced. If a wine tastes too heavy or sweet, serving it cooler will decrease the perceived sweetness.

Body

The body of a wine is based on the amount of extract (liquefied solids), sugar and alcohol. The more these components are present the fuller and thicker the wine is. To recognize the body of the wine is necessary to swirl it around the mouth and feel it’s weight and fullness. Its significant to acknowledge that body has no quality, in other words, full-bodied wine is not inherently better than a light-bodied wine. What’s important is that all the structural parts are in balance. A full-bodied wine usually requires more tannins (in reds) and acids to be in balance. Body plays an important role in food and wine pairing as one often wishes to match the weight of the dish with that of the wine.

Flavor concentration

When we talk about flavor it’s always about the amount of flavor, not the type of flavor. Wines with weak flavor concentrations quickly vanish. Whereas a high-quality concentrated wine will continue in your mouth even after you have swallowed or spit out the wine; the persistent flavor is pleasant. We can measure the concentration of flavor through mid-palate and the length of the finish.

 It’s okay to have an inexpensive wine that vanishes quickly, but if you’re spending more you should expect to get flavors that continue. A strongly flavored wine requires good structure, higher acid, tannins, alcohol, etc. As we learn more about wine one will probably start to appreciate the subtle nuances in more delicate wines. To really understand wine is to learn how to recognize each individual element and how it affects wine.

Balance

Balance is the relationship between all the structural elements – Tannins, Acids, Sweetness, Alcohol, Body and Flavor. Question yourself if any one element of the wine stands out or overshadows another. If none of these components stand out and the wine tastes harmonious, then the wine is well balanced. For instance, if the wine tastes flabby (low acid), it’s syrupy (too sweet) or if it’s burns in the back of your throat (high alcohol) then the wine is unbalanced. We must look at the wine objectively and judge the wine as a whole. The better the balance in a wine, the better the quality.