1. Home
  2. Winemaking Craft Forum
  3. High TA Grapes?

High TA Grapes?

Hi all,

I'm new to winemaking from fresh grapes and have a question about what to look for when sourcing fruit.

I am planning on making a Baco Noir and have contacted a vineyard in Niagra, Ontario that will sell Baco grapes. Last year the Baco were 22 Brix and 1.18 TA at harvest. This TA seems to be very high IMO. Am I correct? I've read that generally, grapes for making dry reds should be at least in the neighbourhood of 0.70 TA. Should I look for another supplier? And if so, what should I be looking for in grapes to produce a full bodied red such as a Baco Noir, or possibly a Cab Franc or Cab Sauv?

Travis

Reply to
trav77
Loading thread data ...

Baco grapes are naturally high in acid...but this is ok, because they are also very high in tannins and flavour compounds...the higher acid leads to a better balance for this grape.

If you are starting at 11g/L or so, the finished wine should be around

7 or 8 g/L.

Maybe do an internet search for Henry of Pelham's Baco reserve and see what thier numbers are--this wine would be a good benchmark to judge against.

Reply to
CJ

Ah. Thanks for the help.

I checked out the H of P Baco reserve and you're right. Harvest conditions are 11 g/L TA, 22.4 Brix, and 3.06 pH (for the '99). This summer has apparently been a record here (been nice and hot all season), so the grower was predicting this year's crop to be a little higher Brix than last year's 22 and a little lower TA than last year's

1.18. The final product is 6.7 g/L TA.

So these look like nice grapes to go with. Wish me luck! (I'm sure I'll have more questions as I get into the process.) Thanks for the reply.

Cheers, Travis

CJ wrote:

Reply to
trav77

DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.