High 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 and TA. The TA was low at 0.444 g/100mL and the pH was high at 3.66. I bench tested two 100 mL samples. The first sample I tested with 1 gram of tartaric acid and the second with 2 grams thinking that I needed to reduce the pH to 3.4 to be safe. Both of the samples were too tart for my taste and others that sampled. For wine stability should I add the 2g/100mL and then wait (how long?) to see if the tartness will dissipate, and if it doesn’t, reduce the acid with potassium carbonate? Gary M. Smith Santa Rosa, California Bravo 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 the lab bench”) before performing it on your entire lot, is one of
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