Red wines: Taming tannins
Here are three nicely aged red wines that strike the right balance between tannin and fruity flavors.
A good red wine has just the right amount of tannins, said Dave McIntyre in The Washington Post. “Without tannins, red wines can be flabby and fragile.” But too many tannins make a wine taste bitter, like “a sucker punch to the mouth.” Tannins are contained mostly in the skins, stems, and seeds of a grape, and are most noticeable in such red wines as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Nebbiolo. Merlot and Pinot Noir tend to have fewer tannins. Here are three nicely aged red wines that strike the right balance between tannin and fruity flavors:
Christian Moueix St. Emilion 2005 (Bordeaux, $25) A Merlot-Cabernet blend that shows “classic Bordeaux styling” and earthy tannins.
Provenance Vineyards Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 (Napa Valley, $45) “Gorgeous, from first sniff to final sip.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Thorn-Clarke William Randell Shiraz 2005 (Australia, $54) A wine from the Barossa Valley with “jammy blackberry” flavors and “a long, rapturous finish.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Hamas frees US hostage in deal sidelining Israel
speed read Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier, was the final living US citizen held by the militant group
-
White Afrikaners land in US as Trump-declared refugees
speed read An exception was made to Trump's near-total ban on admitting refugees for the white South Africans
-
RFK Jr.: A new plan for sabotaging vaccines
Feature The Health Secretary announced changes to vaccine testing and asks Americans to 'do your own research'