WineLovers Discussion Group

High polymeric tannins are more astringent on a relative level, and low polymeric or monomeric tannins are more bitter, on a relative level. So we find that whatever takes place in the aging process, it tends to be accompanied by decreased bitterness, and increased astringency up to a point in time. Bitterness is associated with actual taste sensation, while astringency seems to accompany binding of proteins to tannins, and their combined interaction in the mouth. That tends to suggest that over time, the polymerization causes steric hinderances over protein binding sites on the tannins, and there is actually less protein-binding ability.