Which red wines contain a lot of tannins and 7 useful facts

Malbec wines often contain a lot of tannins, whereas Pinot Noir wines do not. In addition, tannin does not cause headaches, salty food combines well with drying tannins, and your tannin sensation varies at different temperatures. In short: sink your teeth into this tannic topic!

Tannins are an important component of red wine: it largely determines your taste preference. When choosing a red wine, it is therefore useful to know how much and what type of tannins a wine contains. But how can you tell without tasting?

Red wines with high or low tannins

The best indicator for the amount of tannins in a wine is the grape variety. By nature, some black grape varieties contain a lot of tannins in their skins, while others contain very little. Grapes with high tannin content in their skins usually also have high pigmentation. This is why wines with high tannin content often have a deep colour. As always, there are exceptions. The most famous being Nebbiolo wines. Wines made from this grape variety are high in tannin but pale in colour!

Well-known grape varieties / red wines with little tannins

• Pinot Noir (e.g. Burgundy, France and Marlborough, New-Zealand)
• Gamay (e.g. Beaujolais, France)
• Barbera (e.g. Asti, Italy)

Well-known grape varieties / red wines with a lot of tannins

• Cabernet Sauvignon (e.g. Bordeaux, France and Napa Valley, USA)
• Malbec (e.g. Cahors. France and Mendoza, Argentina)
• Tannat (e.g. Uruguay)
• Nebbiolo (e.g. Barolo and Barbaresco, Italy)

Tannins and the cost of a wine

As mentioned, tannins in red wine come mainly from the grape skin. Therefore, the longer and more intensely the grape skin is macerated in the grape juice, the more tannins the final wine will contain. You can compare it to brewing a cup of tea: when you soak the tea bag for longer and dip it regularly, you will get a stronger tea. Unfortunately, you cannot find this information about winemaking on a wine label. Nevertheless, the price of a wine may help here. As a rule of thumb, a €5 Cabernet Sauvignon contains less tannins than a €15 Cabernet Sauvignon. The grapes of the cheaper bottle are usually less ripe. As a winemaker, you want to avoid long skin contact, otherwise you will get too many bitter and drying tannins. That is why cheaper wines are often fruitier and expensive wines more powerful in terms of wine style 😊.

Drying from cold, soft from warm

Finally, it is useful to know whether a wine contains drying or soft tannins. With a few exceptions, the climate provides the best clue. Namely, red wine from a warm climate often has soft tannins, while the tannins in a wine from a cool climate are usually drying. Let us revisit the examples mentioned earlier: Cabernet Sauvignon wines from Bordeaux are often drying (because of the cooler climate) and those from Napa Valley are soft (because of the warmer climate). The same applies to Malbec wines from Cahors and Mendoza: their tannins will most likely be drying and soft, respectively.

Useful facts about tannins

1. Deposit – tannins form compounds with other elements in red wine, such as acids and color pigments. Over time, this can make drying tannins feel softer and less astringent in your mouth. You may speed up this process by decanting. Eventually, the ever-growing compounds settle at the bottom, forming the ‘sediment’ or ‘deposit’ of a wine
2. Headaches – for those who (think they) get headaches from strong red wines: sorry to disappoint. No link has ever been found between tannins and headaches. There is only one substance in wine that has been proven to cause headaches…
3. Shelf life – did you know that tannins help in the ageing process of red wine? A red wine with a lot of tannins, such as those from Bordeaux, can therefore still be drinkable after many years
4. Temperature – tannins at cooler temperatures come across as more astringent. If you drink the same wine when warmer, the tannins will seem softer. Do try this at home: cool a red wine in the refrigerator and taste it. Then leave the glass for 15 minutes and taste the wine again. Note that not only tannins but also other elements in the wine change, such as the fruit aromas. It’s all about balance
5. Tannin powder – it is permitted to add tannins during winemaking. This is done by so called tannin powder, also known as oenological tannin or tannic acid. These tannins influence the taste, color, and shelf life of the wine. However, it is not possible to turn a Pinot Noir into a Cabernet Sauvignon, because the effect of tannin powder is poorly understood and difficult to predict
6. Food and wine pairing – adding salt and fat to your food makes tannins seem less drying, while sweet and bitter flavours enhance them. This is useful to know when you are trying to pair your dish with a robust red wine
7. To practice at home – high amounts of tannins can be found in unripe bananas, black tea and cocoa!

Tannins: hate it or love it

Now that you know what tannins are, you can put it into practice. Take this week to open a bottle of red wine and try to pay attention to the texture of the wine. Do you feel the wine on your gums when you rinse it in your mouth? Does it have a drying or soft sensation? Then see if your tasting experience matches what you would expect from the grape variety and climate of the wine.
Finally, and most importantly: do you like the wine or not? Some wine drinkers like drying tannins, while others prefer a wine with little or soft tannins. Luckily, otherwise there would be little to choose from 😊.

Would you like to know more about what tannins are and how to taste them in wine? Then visit our sister blog about tannins: Tannins in wine explained: what are they and how to taste them

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Robert, Cloud Wine

Hi wine enthusiast. Congratulations on finding Cloud Wine! On this wine blog I will amuse and infuse you with useful wine knowledge. All towards helping you make better wine choices in your daily life.

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