What are tannins in wine?
When meeting and talking with cellar door staff and winemakers the word rolls off the tongue like it is a term we have all been using since we were kids. For most, it isn’t. “What are tannins?” This is one of the most commonly asked questions on a wine tour, but normally later in the day (once someone turned to me at winery 4 and said “What the f*ck are tannins?”).
Ever heard any of the following and nodded along politely?
- “The wine has a fine tannin structure”
- “The grippy tannins will soften with age”
- “The tannins in the wine are balanced by the acidity”
This post aims to tell you in plain English what tannins are and and how to identify them.
Talking tannins with Peter Parker from Merricks Creek
What do tannins do in wine?
Tannins are the thing that make your mouth dry and pucker up when you swirl a wine around your mouth. This astringency is what makes wine seem drying. A good example of tannin is strongly brewed black tea.
Tannins are a substance found in the skins, seeds and stems of grapes, but also in the oak used to age wine. In the plant world the chemicals are used to protect against threats.
Some points to note about tannins:
- They mainly occur in red wines which are fermented from whole grapes, seeds and possibly stems – and more commonly aged in oak
- They don’t occur as much in most white wines which take the skins, stems and seeds out, but some white wine with obvious tannins exist
- Some skin contact and oak ageing means rose may have some tannins
- Orange wines (white wines made like red wines) will have tannin as they include skins and seeds
Find more information about the difference between red and white wine here
For more interesting wine stuff, follow us on:
White wine aged in oak will have tannins (but not as much as red) Moorooduc Estate
How to identify tannins?
People can usually identify with characteristics like “acidity” and “sweetness” as these are commonly used with everyday food. Once you know what to look for, tannins are actually one of the easiest things to identify in wine (for me anyway). To help you get used to tannins, try this test:
- Choose a red wine from the high tannin list below
- Swirl it around your mouth like a real wine taster, get it right up onto your gums
- Notice how dry your mouth becomes for a few seconds. That is a “high tannin” or “tannic”
- Then compare to a lower tannin red like a Pinot Noir. Notice that mouth-drying still occurs but it is much less prominent. These are finer tannins
- Then try it with something like a unoaked Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio to see that there is no real drying sensation
Wines from d’Arenberg McLaren Vale, big tannins and need to be aged
High tannin red wines
Here are some of the higher tannin wine varieties to try, these have thicker grape skins:
- Shiraz
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Nebbiolo (I had a youngish Barolo once and have never forgotten how much my mouth puckered up)
- Malbec
And a couple of lower tannin red wines, these have thinner grape skins:
- Pinot Noir
- Gamay
Tannins and ageing wine
Tannins are a key component in what makes a wine age well. There are plenty of great, high tannin red wines out there, that if you drink them too young will turn your mouth into the Sahara Desert.
We recently tried some younger D’Arenberg Shiraz from McLaren Vale which were nearly undrinkable, but are regarded as some of the best Shiraz in Australia.
With age the tannins in these wines will “smooth out” and become “softer” giving the wines great structure.
There you have it, a bit of a beginner/intermediate guide to tannins, see below for a scientific image of tannins, stolen from the internet:
Scientific image of tannins, no idea what this means
For more interesting wine stuff, follow us on:
Check out Mornington Peninsula wine tours or Yarra Valley wine tours
- Best Wine With Steak: Pairings for Every Cut, Sauce, and Cooking Method - August 15, 2026
- The Best Way to Do a Yarra Valley Wine Day Trip from Melbourne - August 11, 2026
- Why Your Sense of Smell Is Essential for Enjoying Wine - August 1, 2026
Hope you will like the blog!
My friends and I laugh about tannins as everyone always goes on about it, but all of us secretly had no idea what they were talking about. After a wine tour one day, we all realised we were in the same boat and had some good chuckles
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Tannins are natural compounds in grape skins, seeds, and oak barrels that give wine its dryness, bitterness, and texture. Just like choosing movies on DixMax APK, tannins shape the overall experience, balancing smoothness with intensity in every sip.
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this explanation finally made tannins click for me, especially the black tea comparison and the “dry gums” test. i used to confuse tannin with acidity, but now i can tell when the dryness lingers even after swallowing. funny enough i was reading some totally unrelated cricket stuff on https://1xbetcricketbetting.com/ and a popup mentioned “tannins” in an ad, which felt surreal after this post. now i’m going to pay more attention to how cabernet and nebbiolo feel compared to pinot noir.
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