Hi All,
This is my third year making red wine from fresh grapes, and each year has had the same problem: After primary fermentation is mostly done and the sugar dissappears (SG < 1010), all I can taste is the wines acid. Firstly, my grapes this year were:
OG: 1098 (about 23 Brix)
PH: 3.2
TA: 6.5/7 ish
I know this is a little low on the PH , but it's hardy miles away from where it should be, and the wine is so sour/tart it's completely undrinkable. Also, last year's batch had a PH around 3.4 and that still had the same problem (i didn't have a TA kit to measure that last year).
It's a week old today, so yes it's too young etc etc, but the last two years batches have had the same issue and the only way I managed to resolve it was to dump a whole load of de-acidifier into the wine.
I'm pretty sure it's not VA since it doesn't get worse over time (in fact in the last two years it has subsided over the course of 6 - 12 months, just not enough).
I did add malolactic bacteria in both the last two years and that didn't resolve the problem, although i am not convinced that MLF actually took place - I used an old packet of dried bacteria and didn't properly re-hydrate it.
So I guess I have two questions:
1) Is it normal that at the end of primary fermentation and before MLF the acid in the wine makes it taste very tart? (Implying I need to perform MLF to correct it, and the chances are that in the last two years MLF didn't work.)
2) If not, what else?
Thanks in advance
Dan
This is my third year making red wine from fresh grapes, and each year has had the same problem: After primary fermentation is mostly done and the sugar dissappears (SG < 1010), all I can taste is the wines acid. Firstly, my grapes this year were:
OG: 1098 (about 23 Brix)
PH: 3.2
TA: 6.5/7 ish
I know this is a little low on the PH , but it's hardy miles away from where it should be, and the wine is so sour/tart it's completely undrinkable. Also, last year's batch had a PH around 3.4 and that still had the same problem (i didn't have a TA kit to measure that last year).
It's a week old today, so yes it's too young etc etc, but the last two years batches have had the same issue and the only way I managed to resolve it was to dump a whole load of de-acidifier into the wine.
I'm pretty sure it's not VA since it doesn't get worse over time (in fact in the last two years it has subsided over the course of 6 - 12 months, just not enough).
I did add malolactic bacteria in both the last two years and that didn't resolve the problem, although i am not convinced that MLF actually took place - I used an old packet of dried bacteria and didn't properly re-hydrate it.
So I guess I have two questions:
1) Is it normal that at the end of primary fermentation and before MLF the acid in the wine makes it taste very tart? (Implying I need to perform MLF to correct it, and the chances are that in the last two years MLF didn't work.)
2) If not, what else?
Thanks in advance
Dan