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wymike
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My trusty Mitsubishi has 326,000km on the clock and still going strong.

Not looking forward to the day he gives up and I have to get a car full of electronics and subscriptions.

Quit my job to become a 40+ yr old ski/surf bum and homeschooler.

Put 1/2 of what I don’t spend each day into Bitcoin and donate the other 1/2.

Having tried trending 1hr, 4hr and 12hr I’ve settled on 4hr as my preferred option.

1hr doesn’t seem long enough to filter out the lower quality posts and 12ht always seems to be filled with posts from the same people. 4hr seems to strike a nice balance between.

"Wine Tannins give me Massive Headaches"šŸ·

As a low-intervention winemaker, that one caught me off guard.

I’ve heard people blame sugar, sulfites, even histamines. But tannins? Let’s talk about what they are—and what they’re not. 🧵

Tannins are natural compounds found in grape skins, seeds, stems, and oak barrels.

They aren’t about flavor—they’re about texture.

They’re much more present in red and orange wines than in whites or rosĆ©s, since those wines stay in contact with skins, seeds, stems, and oak barrels much longer.

I often hear people say a wine is dry, referring to that mouth-drying sensation you get from certain wines.

However, when a wine is dry, that means it isn’t sweet.

People who describe highly tannic wines this way aren't totally wrong because tannins bind to your saliva and do leave your mouth feeling dried out.

While a lot of the tannins in red wine do come from the grapes of oak barrel, then can also be added during winemaking—usually in powder form.

Most of these powders are derived from natural sources like oak or grape skins, and can support structure, aroma, and color without changing the identity of the wine.

I use oak-derived tannins in some of my wines, especially since I age in neutral barrels.

This helps me use less sulfur in my winemaking.

Tannins act more like a protective coating that helps show off the wine’s natural brilliance—not a tool for manipulation.

Most wine additives are used as part of a manipulation regime—designed to hit a target flavor profile, often at the expense of transparency.

And with over 70 approved additives that don’t have to be listed on a wine label, the real culprit behind your wine headache could be anything.

Tannins are different.

There is some nuance.

Hydrolyzable tannins like gallotannins (from oak galls or chestnut wood)—have been linked to mild inflammation or histamine release in sensitive individuals.

But they’re typically used in small amounts and are far less likely to be the issue than residual sugar, poor fermentation, or a cocktail of other additives.

Tannins aren’t usually the problem. The winemaking style might be.

Wine is complicated and often swept into a shroud of mystery to keep consumers in the dark.

But knowing a little can change a lot.

I’ll be sharing more about how to navigate additives, labels, and wine in general.

If this gave you value, please like or retweet that first post.

Loving this series on wine knowledge, I’m learning so much

You’re right I did make that jump, it was based on the content of the original post that your comment was for. Just sharing my thoughts on the narrative.

You’re also right that cereal isn’t my only food but that doesn’t really change the point I was making. If I ate some lead for breakfast every day and the rest of my diet was ā€˜perfect’ I’d still get lead poisoning and become sick from it.

I’ve eaten cereal for as long as I remember (almost 40yrs), granted not coco pops or other cereal based junk food but cereal none the less. No cancer, no malnutrition, no clogged arteries.

Do I agree with the food labels? No.

Am I tired of hearing that if it’s not carnivore it’s junk? Yes.

Incel = intentional celibate no? Or have I misunderstood what incel means?

This is not a universal truth, my mortgage is about 50% of what I would have to pay for the same property if I was renting.

So does that mean that wine in a bottle with a screw top doesn’t age? Or is the cork used somewhere before you bottle it?