Tannin ripeness: state of the tannins

The standard

A tasted tannin ripeness names what it was judged on — the bite of skin and seed, not a single measured value. For no laboratory figure alone shows whether a tannin seems ripe or green.

Criteria

• The ripeness is bound to the state of the tannins, not to the must weight
• Its assessment — berry tasting or analysis — is named
• It remains a statement about skin and seed, not about the whole berry

Distinction

Tannin ripeness ≠ sugar ripeness: sugar and tannins ripen on different clocks, so that a berry can be sweet and green at once. Tannin ripeness ≠ Tannin quality: ripeness is a state in the course, quality the property of the result. A tasted tannin ripeness keeps the two apart.