The Grapevine

Wine Stuff Worth Sharing: Tannins, Before and After Photos, More

April 28th, 2016

Lots of good stuff to share with your wine shop customers, social media followers, and email subscribers this week, including how tannins work, how a few glasses of wine affect us on film, and a brief history of win in the U.S. [level-members]

History of Wine in the U.S.
We’ll start with the history, since it’s easy to assume it’s dry and dead and we should get it out of the way first. Smithsonian Insider does history right in this article that shows how slow the process really was for wine to become a part of everyday American life. That’s saying something, especially to those of us who compare how wine is barely a part of most people’s lives here with the much more central role it plays in most of Europe. You can read the full article here.

How Do Tannins Work
OK, so we move from history to science. Not everyone’s idea of fun, but stick with me …

The article isn’t long, the molecular structure discussions are brief, and it’s interesting to know how tannins do their thing and how that affects wine’s taste and mouthfeel. Get yourself some more tannin learnin’ here.

Wine and Shots
Not those kinds of shots. Photographs. As in, have a drink and let me take your picture. Have another, let me take another. And so on. The progression is no less fun for being completely predictable. See the silliness here. [/level-member]