Astringency: touch, not taste

The standard

A tactile astringency describes this sensation as mouthfeel — as friction and dryness — apart from the amount of tannin and from bitterness. For the same amount of tannin can act with different strength depending on ripeness and binding.

Criteria

• The sensation is described as mouthfeel, not as taste
• It is kept apart from bitterness, which is a taste quality
• Its strength does not follow the amount of tannin alone, but its binding

Distinction

Astringency ≠ bitterness: the one is a tactile reaction, the other a taste of the tongue. Astringency ≠ structure: structure is the frame of the wine, a tactile astringency a single sensation within it.