Wine has many different flavours and aromas, such as fresh fruit, black fruit, oak, sweetness, tannin, alcohol and acidity. They determine whether you like or dislike a wine. But of all the wine elements, these three are the most important ones for your wine preference: acidity, oak and tannin.

Does this scenario sound familiar? You are dining in a restaurant and have chosen a wine pairing. You take a sip of the first wine and say, ‘My god, this is wine I like!’ But unfortunately, your vocabulary doesn’t get you any further than that. Because what is it that makes this wine so tasteful to you? No stress, Cloud Wine is here to clarify your taste preference mess. In other words, to help you make better wine choices.

What determines your taste preference in wine

To get straight to the point, the main determinants for your wine preference are:

1. Acidity
2. Oak
3. Tannin

The number one flavour determinant is acidity. Even though all wines are relatively acidic, some wines clearly have more than others. Wines with a lot of acidity make you produce a lot of saliva. In other words, your mouth starts to water. The wine style or flavour profile of these types of wine is called “fresh” or “light”. On the other hand, wines with little acidity often give a “full” mouthfeel. Compared to rosé and red wines, white wines have a higher level of acidity.

Acidity in wine is not for everyone

Most wine lovers do not like wines with high acidity. Taste preferences differ. Your taste preference may also depend on the moment, such as on a hot summer day or with a certain wine pairing. By asking yourself the following question, you can find out whether you feel like a white wine with high acidity or little in any particular moment: ‘Do I feel more like a green apple or vanilla custard?’ Or for red wines, ask yourself, ‘Do I crave yoghurt with red berries or a jam made of blackberries?’ The former wine aroma is often found in wines with prominent acidity and the latter wine aroma in riper wine styles with less acidity.

Waiter, may I please have a red wine with high acidity, no oak flavours and soft tannins?

Oak flavours, yes or no

Another important element in your taste preference is oak. When a wine has matured on new oak barrels, it will taste of vanilla, roasted aromas or spices like cloves. Note the word “new”, because several wines (mainly red wines) are aged on used oak and thus do not get the flavours of wood. You can tick off a lot of options in your choice of wine if you do or do not prefer oak flavours.

Tannin in red wine

Last, but not least, we have tannin. Tannin is a collective term for substances found in plants, such as in the skins of black grapes. Because you need these grape skins to give colour to red wine, tannin only matters in red wines. Understanding tannin takes practice. This is because red wines can contain high or little tannins, as well as drying or soft tannins. You notice the drying, astringent effect best on your gums. The soft variant is like pulp in a fruit juice and gives a mouth-filling effect. In short: do you like or dislike the drying sensation when drinking a red wine?

Choosing the right wine

By now you should have a clear idea how acid, oak and tannin play an important role in your taste preference. Of course, more wine elements play a role, but just these three help enormously in choosing the right wine. All that remains is to assess whether, which and how much these flavour drivers are present in a wine. For this purpose you look at the grape variety, climate and winemaking choices. Want to know more? Then feel free to join a wine course at Cloud Wine, where all wine knowledge is simplified and explained. Whatever you do you can put the above theory into practice. After all, that is the best part of wine 😊.

← to wine blog homepage

Robert, Cloud Wine

Hi wine enthusiast! Congratulations on finding Cloud Wine. In this wine blog I will amuse, infuse and unconfuse you with useful wine knowledge. Hereby helping you towards making better wine choices in your daily life.

Feel free to check out more blog articles and discover the amazing wine courses by Cloud Wine!