Wine Science
The Scientist : Taming tannins
Vintners have become fixated on tannin levels, and they are seeking out specialists like Kennedy to help them control the amount, quality and types of tannin in their wines. Kennedy worked with one vineyard to unravel the mystery of why two plots a spit away from each other, growing the same grapes, should produce on the one hand, bottles of wine that could be sold for $75, and on the other, bottles worth just $38.The winemakers knew what made the $75 wine better — it had much higher tannin concentrations. But they needed Kennedy to explain how that had happened. His task was to match the chemistry of the wine to the exact geographical location: to its micro-, macro- and meso-climate, and its canopy management . The answer lay in sun exposure and irrigation: GIS technology revealed that the quality vines exposed more soil between the rows. The sunnier soil was drier, and a drier soil was, in this case, optimal. The vineyard couldn’t make more sun or move their established vines, so they responded to Kennedy’s findings by planting moisture-sucking ground-cover between the vines in the under-achieving plot. Their $38 wine now costs a good deal more.
The great thing about wine is that what makes it better also makes it healthier. So improved tannin quality across all wines made is better for everyone.