Pre fermentation acid adjustments are very important with high pH wines. I didn't go back thru all the data, but I am sure that significant acid additions were made in most cases
I find big, heavily extracted red wines do well in competitions, but they are difficult to make. I think the trick is to keep the TA down as the tannin increases even at the expense of pH. Most of my red wines, except Carignane, age well for eight or ten years before they fall apart.
lum
Those high pH cabernets are the kind that do well in judgings. The low acidity makes them more supple in their youth, and thus more approachable.
I've been shooting for ~3.4pH on reds and whites lately. Seems to work well for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Haven't had my hands on any Cabernet since I lost my connection in Rutherford last millennium. :^(
Tom S
I often bottle big red wines with pH values of 3.8 _or higher_. I looked back in my records and in the last five years I bottled wines with pH values of 3.92, 3.97, 4.04, 4.09 and 4.13. The biggest problem with these high pH wines is poor longevity. They simply fall apart after a few years.
I am not advocating high pH wines. This is a style issue and high pH values are the result of making this style of wine from grapes grown in a warm area. Years ago, I was interested in winning wine competitions and I found this style of red wine was necessary to be competitive. ( I also developed a taste for this style).
For these "big" red wines, I raise the TA to about 0.6. I like to get the pH below 3.6 if possible, but I don't raise TA above 0.62%. In general, potassium bitartrate precipitates during fermentation and the TA drops 0.05 to 0.15%. But, the yeast produces succinic and lactic acids during fermentation and the TA rises 0.05 to 0.15% (see Margalit, "Concepts in Wine Chemistry", page 17 ). Sometimes the decrease is about equal to the increase and the TA before and after fermentation remains about the same. But, TA can swing about 0.1% either way depending on the grapes. I like the pH as low as possible, but I don't want the TA of the finished wine much above 0.62.
I am unable to accurately predict the correct amount of tartaric acid to add. However, getting grapes from the same vineyard year after year is a big help, and I am getting pretty good at guessing.
Potassium has a profound effect on wine pH, and much of the potassium is in the skins. My comments apply to heavily extracted red wines, containing lots of phenolics and made from warm climate grapes.
Some of those are good numbers for classic hot rods! 392 Chrysler hemi from the mid 1950s (long a mainstay of AA fuel dragsters), the 409 Chevy in 1963 (which began life as a 348 cubic inch truck engine) and the 413 Dodge & Plymouth in 1972 (which preceded the 426 wedge). :^D
FWIW, I sold my lightweight 1963 Ford racer to buy barrels and grapes in
1983. Lately, I've been thinking of buying another hot rod. That was a **fun** car!I don't think I've _ever_ made a wine with that high a pH though, but my fruit comes from the Central Coast, which runs mostly region 1 and 2.
Tom S
A very important rule to remember! Otherwise, you might hit a bump and spill the whole bottle!
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