In an earlier post I w(h)ined about why we were required to name our Methode Portagee* fortified wine something other than Port. Now I'd like to talk about the rest of it... This Pour't is made from Touriga Nacional grapes....

I feel like the Parker-Laube effect on winemaking has affected not only ripeness and alcohol levels but, in many cases, tannin levels as well. Are we becoming a society of tannin-whipped sissies? Take this quiz: -- Larry Roberts...

Forum: Wine Talk Posted By: Bonnie Melielo Post Time: 07-13-2007 at 04:22 AM

Wine is such a mysterious beverage. We sniff it, quaff it, swizzle it, and then come up with all these wild descriptors: cassis, meadow, leather, mushroom. Where do all these elusive aromas and flavors come from? Partly from the grape, partly from aging in oak, (partly from our imaginations) and partly from tannin...

... as well. Picking too early, even when the sugar level is nice, may have immature tannin phenol compounds ... . If you're interested in the chemistry of it all, click the link to the tannin paper above. (btw...

Tannin is sometimes hard to define. Some red wine drinkers love it and others hate tannin. What exactly is tannin...

Like Jim, I'm not a winemaker or grape grower, but... With today's levels of acceptable ripeness, I'd imagine the amount of tannin in the fruit itself is very low. It shouldn't be surprising that there's no correlation between fruit tannin and tannin...

Forum: Wine Talk Posted By: Mary Baker Post Time: 12-16-2007 at 07:36 PM

[quote=Bryan Gros] I thought the hangtime/ripeness had to do with the quality of the tannins, not the quantity. And I agree with the others that winemaking techniques control to a great extent the quantity of tannins that make it into the finished wine.

[quote=CMM] In recent years, one of the arguments for increased hangtime has been "let's wait until the tannins/phenolics are just right". [/quote] I thought the hangtime/ripeness had to do with the quality of the tannins, not the quantity. And I ag