Red Wine

Tannin comes from grape skins, pips and stems, and from the oak a wine is matured in. It registers as a drying, slightly grippy feeling along the sides of your tongue, so it is texture rather than flavour. The longer the juice sits with the skins during fermentation, the more of it ends up in the bottle, and thick skinned varieties start with more to give. That is why a Cabernet feels firmer than a Cinsaut. Time softens tannin as it binds together and drops out of solution. So does fat on the plate.

A red blend from the Cape might mix Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Cinsaut or Pinotage in whatever proportion the cellar thinks works. The phrase Cape Blend is generally taken to mean a blend carrying a meaningful share of Pinotage, but no single legal definition sits behind it, so producers apply the term differently. If the proportions matter to you, the back label is where they are usually printed.

South Africa certifies old vineyards, and a wine made from a block that qualifies can carry a seal stating the year that block was planted. Old vines crop lightly and their roots run deep. The lower yield is well established; the idea that the fruit is therefore more concentrated is widely held in the trade but genuinely contested in the research, so treat it as a view rather than a fact. The seal is a verified statement about the vineyard rather than a promise about the glass, but it does tell you the fruit was not cheap to grow.

With a young red that feels tight, yes: air loosens the texture inside half an hour. With an older bottle the reason changes, because decanting there is about leaving the sediment behind in the bottle.

Most red wine on a shelf is built to drink now and gains nothing from waiting. A wine only improves in bottle if it has tannin, acid and concentration all at once, and one missing leg means it fades. The bottles that reward patience are usually a structured Cabernet or Syrah, or a Bordeaux style blend. They want a cool, dark spot where the temperature holds steady. Sustained warmth damages wine on its own, and big swings between a hot afternoon and a cold night add a further risk. In a South African summer the cupboard above the stove is the worst storage in the house.

Sediment in an older red is pigment and tannin that have bound together and dropped out of solution over the years. Stand the bottle upright for a day, pour slowly, and stop when the cloud reaches the neck.