I’m not sure I can distinguish between them. thoughts?
thanks.
Hope this helps.
http://antiwinesnob.com/wine-articles/whats-the-difference-between-tannins-and-acidity/
Acid makes your mouth water and tannins dry it out.
Acid in the center of your tongue and tannins on the side.
Good description, especially the first sentence. My only qualm about the second point, is sometimes I feel like it’s “tannins…all over…side, center, on my teeth, etc”:)!
+1. Hugely tannic wines like Barolo you feel tannins in your front teeth and gums.
For tannins, think green apples and black tea, because they are also tannic. Tannins come from skins, seeds and stems (e.g., apple skins, tea leaves), and from oak barrels.
For acid, think sour/tart.
In practice, sometimes it is hard to distinguish the two, and they often go hand in hand. But usually they are fairly easy to identify.
Another way to approach this: Barbera that has not been aged in small oak barrels has almost no tannin but a lot of of acid. For tannic wines, try Barolo or Barbaresco (though they have a lot of acid, too), young Northern Rhone syrah or Dunn Howell Mountain Cab less than 10 years old.
For wines with low acid, try cheap California chardonnay, grenache-heavy Cotes du Rhone or Alsatian Pinot Gris.
I don’t really get it–it not that hard. Acid is kind of prickly–think lemonade. Tannins are drying and astringent–think a way oversteeped cup of black tea. Acids really do hit center of tongue/top of mouth. tannins side of tongue, gums , etc.
John M,
Grenache has a ton of tannin when cropped properly.
Go get a Muscadet and a Tannat.
Good thoughts above. I think lemon tartness for acidity or sour feel. Unsweetened lemonade… Drying tannins give red wine a harsh finish. This is smoothed out by good protein like a beef rib roast!
Acid in wine makes my mouth pucker from sourness but also refreshes my palate. It is necessary to balance a sweet wine even in small amounts.
Tannins are rich and give depth in flavor, much like black tea leaves. They give a great richness to a wine but too much of it makes a wine bitter and woody tasting.
Basically, it’s sour vs bitter. Too much of either one or both can ruin a wine and will require time to settle down.
While there are flavors that are common in tannic wines and others that are common in acidic wines, I think talking about flavor components like sour and bitter is confusing and misleading. When tasting for tannins and acid, the only thing to pay attention to is physical sensations. Acid makes you salivate. The more there is, the more saliva you will produce in the back corners of your cheeks just after swallowing or spitting out the wine. Not all highly acidic wines taste sour (many do, but not all). Tannins give the physical sensation of something like fabric coating the inside of your mouth. I sense them most easily by touching my tongue to the roof of my mouth and teeth and gums after taking a sip. The more it feels like there’s something there (cotton or wool or chalk dust or even something gritty in some cases), the more tannins there are in the wine. Not all highly tannic wines taste bitter. Winemakers have mentioned here that powdered tannins have no flavor.
+1
Food & Wine mag did an article several months ago with some simple exercises
Unripe persimmon vs. lemon.
Drink strong tea - tannins.
Drink lemon juice - acid.
Best, Jim
I am a big fan of acid. Sour beers are delicious.
Tannins…not so much.
Chris - what Jim said. It’s like comparing salty to sweet - they’re different. Tannins are astringent and dry your mouth whereas acid makes you salivate. That’s also why some people keep insisting that more acidic wines are “food” wines, but let’s not go there.
But do exactly what Jim suggests. Oversteep some black tea, or just buy pretty much any tea from some take out place - it’s usually horrible. There are plenty of tannins in tea and there won’t be a lot to distract you.
Then squeeze a lemon into an equal amount of water and drink it. Completely different sensation.
Don’t suck directly on the lemon or you might get some of the white pith. That’s bitter and will confuse the issue.
Many people crave acid in wine. Excessive tannins are harsh - I can’t say that I’ve ever met a “tannin hound.”
Tannins are certainly ‘interesting beasts’, and somewhat misunderstood by the wine consumer. Yes, tannins dry out your mouth - they bind to salivary proteins and remove them, thus leaving your tongue feeling like sandpaper. But tannins can be magnified a bit by acid; tannins can be magnified a bit by other bitter compounds in wines; the level of astringency can also be minimized by the percentage of ‘polymeric pigments’ that make up the total tannin count . . . and on and on . . .
One of thing to consider - many people are simply more bitter adverse than others, and this comes into play with tannins as well (short chain tannins are more bitter than they are astringent). One of the first questions I ask folks when they come into my tasting room is how they drink their coffee - with or without a lot of cream. If you are able to drink your coffee black, you generally are not bitter averse and therefore don’t mind a good does of tannins in your wines. If the opposite, though, your tongue and mouth get ‘set off’ by the bitter compounds and you tend to generally not like tannic wines.
Just something to think about and discuss this am . . .
Cheers!
What if you like your coffee halfway filled with flavored creamers? Skip right to the late harvest flight? LOL
Excellent observation Larry.