I added enough tartaric to get the pH down to 3.60 (from 3.80+), but that leaves me with TA @ 1.11. Just pressed and MLF is still to go, but if not enough to get the pucker out of the wine, recommendations for lowering acidity? I fear that post-ML I'll be in a similar situation with the pH (going back up).
thanks, Patrick
In this case (pH above 3.5) cold stabilization will most likely RAISE your pH. So I would suggest NOT doing that.
It might be that you have to just accept that the TA and Ph are not balanced in this wine. Not every wine is perfect. Adjust acidity to taste and then if the pH is off, do not plane to age it a long time. Just realize that it is a wine meant to be drunk young.
Ray
That's exactly what we do in California when faced with that situation - but we're talking about grape wines that have high enough levels of potassium to make that a viable strategy. That's not always the case with other areas and other types of fruit - or so I'm told.
Tom S
That's what I would do too. Get it at least below 3.55, seed it with cream of tartar and chill it. It probably is potassium; the tartaric is already past the 'pucker point' so just keep going. You could always do a sample and see what happens. Remember to degas, it makes a difference.
Joe
One small point: The wine should _first_ be deeply chilled, and _then_ seeded with cream of tartar (if necessary). Seeding only works in supersaturated solutions. To get to a point of supersaturation the wine must be chilled.
Tom S
Oops, thanks Tom. I'm not sure how you decide if it needs seeded or not. I know it's temperature dependent, but if you can get the wine to
25 -30F and have a few weeks are you thinking it's not necessary? Joe
I've never found it necessary to seed wine to get tartrates to precipitate. In fact, if you're really in a hurry, freezing will drop out tartrates overnight.
I think commercial wineries seed to get tartrates to precipitate more quickly than if they let it go spontaneously.
The really big wineries use ion exchange rather than chilling to remove tartrate.
Tom S
won't the tartrated acid cause the pH to go back up?
I just purchased a chest freezer so I'll have the ability to chill (finally).
I'm not a chemist but it depends on the initial pH as i understand it. Below around 3.55 it goes down, above 3.55 it goes up. It's because you are pulling potassium out in addition to tartrate.
Joe
ugh. the thought of adding acid to an already puckering experience.
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