Topic: Acid
Adding Sorbate After MLF
MEMBERS ONLYWinemakers typically add sorbate (aka sorbic acid, often purchased as potassium sorbate) when they want to bottle a wine with a little residual sugar. It is often added right before backsweetening and
Testing for Titratable Acidity
MEMBERS ONLYTitratable acidity, or TA, is often viewed as a more advanced test, but it shouldn’t be. With a simple kit and a good pH meter, anyone can measure TA in any wine. Bob Peak has some straightforward advice for winemakers to help you bring balance to your wines through TA.
Adjusting Acidity in Wine Kits
FREEWine kits are so wonderful because they tend to be easier and more predictable than just starting from a fresh batch of grapes. Kits have instructions to follow and you’re right, most
Bench Trials and Tribulations
FREEIn late August, 2018, I picked 350 pounds (160 kg) of Sauvignon Blanc grapes from my favorite vineyard in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in California. I had made very good
When The Acid Kicks In: Don’t just factualize, conceptualize acid in wine
MEMBERS ONLYGetting a wine’s acid levels right plays a big role in perception and profile, but numbers only tell part of the story. Don’t just use numbers to decide how you treat your wine — use some sense and your senses.
Wine Acid 101
FREEBalance is often the key to producing a winning wine. This means knowing how to measure and adjust acidity if needed. Learn the basics of wine acids.
Affects of Acid
MEMBERS ONLYIn general, I think of how TA (titratable, or total acidity) and pH impact flavor and mouthfeel in this simple (and yes, perhaps simplistic) way: TA determines how tart or sour a
Cane Juice Wine
FREEThat’s coming is a long answer but I hope it will speak to the many possible country wine situations in which you may find yourself. A good number of our readers choose
Properly Adding Acid to a Barrel
FREEI agree with you in that acid adjustments, especially big ones, can best be made in two steps. That way you can see if you like the result as you go along.
pH Reanalysis
MEMBERS ONLYThe answer to your question depends on the size of your batch. The bigger your batch, especially if it’s must all mixed together with juice and skins, you need to mix quite
Post-Fermentation Acid Adjustments
FREEI would only adjust with tartaric acid, and not an “acid blend” that contains either malic or citric acids. Both of the latter can be fermented by organisms in the bottle. On
Using Tartaric Acid
FREEI absolutely recommend that you bring your TA up and your pH down after MLF is complete. This is best accomplished by tartaric acid, because wine bacteria will not consume tartaric acid;
Adjusting Acid In An Aged Wine
FREEYou can absolutely adjust acidity in a wine when it is one year old. Though I often say that it’s best to do major adjustments early on in a wine’s life (since
Tartrate Crystals
MEMBERS ONLYI always think that trying to precipitate out some of the worst crystals that could form is a good idea, especially for any wine that may be sold commercially or entered into
Sugar and Acid Wine Adjustments
MEMBERS ONLYPerfectly ripe. That is how most winemakers — amateur and professional — want the grape crop to come in for every vintage. “Perfectly ripe” involves a whole host of factors. For home
Post-Fermentation Wine Tweaks
MEMBERS ONLYSometimes, a wine you believed would be balanced during fermentation comes up a little short after fermentation is complete. Learn what you can do to restore it to an order of balance with these post-fermentation adjustments.
Reducing Acidity of Wine
MEMBERS ONLYThat’s great that you are already planning ahead for this upcoming harvest. Indeed, a TA of 10.0 g/L is very high and I would certainly plan on de-acidifying for style as well
Making Acidity Adjustments Post-Fermentation
MEMBERS ONLYYou certainly can adjust acidity after fermentation is complete, but many winemakers feel that the acid is better-integrated, as well as less-detectable, the earlier it is added. That being said, by all
Mastering Wine Acid Balance
MEMBERS ONLYFor the most part, winemaking is relatively simple, unless you run into some serious problem. But occasionally it does throw a curve ball at you with, for example, an acid level that’s
pH of Non-Grape Wines
FREEIt seems like you already have the acidity-adjusting situation well in hand — this is often one of the areas in which non-grape wines meet their downfall. As you already have realized,
Volatile Acidity, Refractometers: Wine Wizard
MEMBERS ONLYOak chips, mesh bag? I am using Flextanks and oak chips for my wine and am really liking the results. However, I put the oak chips in loose and they clog up
Organic acid reduction, reusing corks: Wine Wizard
MEMBERS ONLYRaising pH the natural way I am seeking an organic means to raise pH. Any suggestions? Jim Romano Carrollton, Texas The most “organic,” natural way to raise the pH of your wine
Testing options for pH and TA
MEMBERS ONLYI’m not a fan of the pH and TA kits available out there either. pH test strips are pointless as they don’t spit out an actual number and the TA test kits
How can I fix a wine with high pH and low TA?
MEMBERS ONLYBravo for you for doing bench trials! If you’ve read my columns over the years you know that doing bench trials, that is, testing a wine treatment on a small scale (“on
High pH, low TA, bottles: Wine Wizard
MEMBERS ONLYHigh pH and Low TA in a Chardonnay I have a batch of 2006 Chardonnay that has completed primary and secondary fermentation. It tasted flabby so I had it tested for pH