My First Harvest Day

" the pH was 4.71 according to my meter."

Suggestion; double and triple check the calibration of that meter. Then take a couple more readings of the must. If it really is 4.7, you might want to also test Total Acidity (titratable). If that is also low, yu might want to start considering acid adjustments.

Hi Ric, thanks for the response. I read in your other post the 1g yeast per gallon isn't necessary, but shouldn't hurt I suppose. On the acid, sorry that was a typo, I reread my message before posting but missed the error. The actual pH was 3.71.. would you add acid? I'll have the lab check that reading as well tomorrow.

Thanks,

Rick

Those are great pictures. Thanks for posting.

I think you are making a red wine, yes? In which case, 3.7 is pretty typical; whether you adjust or not depends on taste, style, and total acidity. Most books will tell you to adjust it towards 3.5, but I would suggest that you be cautious; test the TA first; if that is low, maybe adjust it a little. Then wait until you can taste test it. Don't over-react to just one nunmber.

Good luck!

I also advise testing the TA but a pH of 3.7 is likely to climb to at least

3.9 to 4.0 or above. True, some people love a high pH wine because it can be drunk early but you are encouraging wild yeast and wild ML to compete with the sugar. Off flavors and aromas are also very possible to develop in this pH environment.

Since you are having a lab check your value, I suggest you also see if you can talk to a technician at the lab and get their opinion.

I harvested my Merlot today in my backyard vineyard. My pH was 3.7 and I added tartaric. Others may disagree and have other experiences but I have made horrible wine in the past by not lowering my pH. It tasted fine at bottling but got worse instead of better as it aged. If you don't know anything about mercaptans and spoilage organisms not adjusting your pH might be a way to get some first hand experience.

Thanks for your input Paul, I would definitely not want to have first hand experience with ruining a 60 gal barrel. I'll get the results later today or in the AM. It is definitely kicking off fermentation though, so I hope it isn't too late to adjust to a 'safe' level.

Rick

Paul E. Lehmann wrote "I harvested my Merlot today in my backyard vineyard."

Paul- where are you located? I've been thinking about adding Merlot to my vineyard but I'm not sure they can survive here in the Kansas City area. Chardonnay, C. Franc and C. Sauvignon are doing fine after 4 years.

Bill Frazier Olathe, Kansas USA

I took the sample to a lab in St Helena called ETS. Nice folks, I asked for Total SO2, pH and TA. So this is the levels on my 60 gal of fermenting Cab Sauv fruit.

TA = .40 pH = 3.63 Total Sulpher Dioxide = 9 mg/L

It looks like I need to add Tartaric Acid and Pot Met. I originally added 11g of Pot Met at crush. Don't I want this to be in the 40 ppm realm? It should have been 30 ppm based on 60 gal and 11g Pt Met. How much Pot Met and acid should I add? Does anyone have an easy way to calculate the amounts?

Regards,

Rick

First of, _don't_ add any meta! Once the fermentation starts, it has no effect other than increasing your total SO2 level.

Second, I would really question the TA level, for a Napa Cab with this pH, it seems way too low. If you know some winemakers in your area, just give them a taste sample for a quick sanity check, they should be able to tell you if the acid is that low.

Pp

Hmmm.. thought I wanted the sulfite level to stay up around 40ppm, geez the more I try to learn the less i think i know :-)

On the vintner I wish I did.. just moved here a couple years ago and haven't really met any winemakers here. I'll check around, maybe a friend of a friend or something.

I know labs aren't infallable, but this place was HUGE with people scurrying all over at this time of the year. Their site is here:

Three analytes was $ 54.00, seemed high, but my point is that I would trust their number more than mine. With my swirl in a plastic cup titration it appeared to be around .6 .

Should this taste really tannic at this time? The brix is still way up there, but it tastes much like a regular drinking grape juice by the bottle at a grocery store.

Thanks for your input,

Rick

1. If your must is still in primary fermentation, I'd not add any KMS myself (crude short-hand for potassium metabisulfite). Wait until you press off into secondary, then add sufficient to get your ppm to about 30 ppm. If you add it now, you may only stall the fermentation. But get it in right away at the next stage to forestall any bacterial prblems - especially with that low acid. I like to make up a 10% solution of KMS (with distilled water), and add 2/3 ml. per gallon to move the ppm apx. 10 ppm. Let is stabilize a couple days, then do a free SO2 test. Repeat until you get it to where you want it.
2. The pH is OK, but that is a really low TA reading. Not unbelievable, but surprising. I'd call the lab and ask them to confirm their confidence. Assuming it is accurate, you might want to start nudging your acidity with tartaric acid. You can do this slowly, and in increments over the next weeks. Rule of thumb is to add 3.8 grams of tartaric acid per gallon to move the TA by .1%. But don't try to make a huge adjustment all at once. Try moving it in fractions of that amount. Nudge it towards your goal, and keep an eye on both the TA and the pH. Don't be guided by just one number. Others here will have great (and better) suggestions; for my own part, I would probably not want to adjust acid more than taking it to .55 TA, or 3.5 pH - whichever comes first. And I would likely setle for a pH of 3.6, and/or a TA of .5 - if it meant not messing with the wine too much.

It occurs to me that you might get caught running back and forth to that lab a lot. Ever consider getting some basic lab gear so you can test your own TA and free SO2?

PS - what does a test like that cost you at the lab?

Thanks Ric for your input. The Lab charged $ 54 for three analytes. TA, pH and total S02. I have the basic swirl in a plastic cup TA kit, that showed it to be around .6 TA. My pH meter was varying wildly and I couldn't get it to settle down so I didn't trust it. I bought the Chemetrics SO2 test where you use the ampules that have the valve and pull must liquid in to titrate. The indicator always turned clear before it got to the bottom 100 scale on the ampule, so not sure what is going on there. I have some research laboratory background and followed the directions exactly.

I just talked to a friend of a friend vintner. She is relatively small commercial production and in the middle of her own crush. She said all the Napa fruit is coming in with very low TA levels this year due to the really high temps and super wet spring. She has had a 25 lb bag to tartaric she's been working with for 4 years now, but used it up and is almost through another 25 lb bag so far this year and she is still crushing. I guess that makes me feel a bit better, I'll wait a few days and maybe add 1/4 lb or so tartaric and check pH and TA again. She said a quick back of envelope calculation would add about 1/2 lb total, but also said to be really careful of pH and not let that go below 3.4 to insure ML fermentation.

Rick - Look up Lum's winemaking site. This is the best winemaking information around as far as I'm concerned. If you make wine according to these instructions it will be good;

"Hmmm.. thought I wanted the sulfite level to stay up around 40ppm, geez the more I try to learn the less i think i know :-)"

~unless you cold soaked your Cab there really was no reason to add any K metabisulfite or Campden. Just add the yeast and let it go. For sure do not add any K metabisulfite during fermentation.

"I know labs aren't infallable, but this place was HUGE with people

~Your $54.00 is about 1/3 to a good pH meter and acid titration set up. Look at these sites;

Cynmar is a good place to buy things like buretts ($14.50 and up) and other glass ware. Presque Isle is a good place to buy chemicals and test reagents. Also, titration kits. Omega is a good place for things like pH meters. Check out the PHH222 ($150) meter. It has a replaceable electrode that can be placedright in the titration beaker. I've used one for over 5 years with good results.

Bill Frazier Olathe, Kansas USA

Rick, If you're often in the Santa Rosa area, The Beverage People, our local wine and beermaking supplies store on Piner Road, have a much less expensive analysis for hobbyists, albeit with wider error bars than ETS and Vinquiry.

Gene

En> I took the sample to a lab in St Helena called ETS. Nice folks, I

Thanks Gene, I should have thought of that, I bought the crusher destemmer from them. I titrate this as best i can and still see the color shift at around .8 ml which should be around .6 TA. I might just take it to them and see what they get. Or.. if you live in or around Santa Rosa, are you interested in testing/tasting the must? I'd bring you a nice bottle of wine of your favorite style (commercial) for the trouble.

Rick

I do live in the Santa Rosa area, and I'm in the middle of crush at a local winery... so finding a free moment is not easy at this time. I would trust ETS TA numbers, so I think you would be safe going up in

0.1% TA increments as much as 0.2% total like earlier suggested. You can do that on a small sample, and see if you can sense the difference in 'tartness' added by the tartaric acid at 0.5% TA and 0.6% TA. I sense a noticeable shift from just sweetness at 0.3-0.4% TA to a slight tartness under the sweet just beginning when I hit 0.6%TA. Even if you do go up 0.2% TA now, you can get back down a bit later by doing cold stabilization, which will drop out some of the tartaric acid and lower your pH a tad at the same time. You have some freedom to experiment. If you have the luxury of being able to do a split fermentation, you could experiment at two or three different TA levels, and see which you like better. Even professional winemakers have some difference in opinion about the optimum TA for a given wine.

Gene

En> Thanks Gene, I should have thought of that, I bought the crusher

I live in Central Maryland in the tri state area of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia - about 7 miles East of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia and about

15 miles west of Frederick, Maryland. So far, I have not had any lost vines due to cold temperatures. There is quite a bit of Merlot grown around here. Cabernet Franc is the favorite red grown around here. I would think that since your Chardonnay and C. Franc and C. Sauvignon are doing fine that the Merlot would work also. It definately rippens earlier than the Cabernet Sauvignon. and about 10 days to two weeks earlier than the Cabernet Franc.

Eno,

What color did your wine turn out to be?

Bob

En> Thanks Gene, I should have thought of that, I bought the crusher