Newbie Needing Help with First Batch of Red Wine

[rhodes]

This is my first post and I am attempting to make red wine for the first time and I need help. I live in California and picked up 110 lbs of cab franc grapes from the local winery on 10/26. They were crushed and destemmed at the winery with the following measurements done at the winery: pH 3.9, TA 3.5, Brix 24.5. I confirmed these measurements at home with my pH meter, hydrometer and acid test kit so I knew my gear was accurate. On 10/27 I wanted to drop my pH to 3.6 for the fermentation and started to add tartaric acid in stages while checking the pH. I eventually needed to add 82 grams of tartaric acid to get to 3.6. Not sure why it took so much acid addition to drop 0.3 pH? Started fermentation on 10/27. On 10/28 pH was back to 3.8? My TA reading was 11. On 10/29 my pH was 3.67 and I added an addition 20 grams of tartaric acid to get the pH to 3.60. On 10/30 my pH was back to 3.69and I added an additional 10 grams of tartaric acid to get it down to 3.62. My TA is now 14.55. Total of 112 grams of tartaric acid added. My Brix is approaching 0 and I will be pressing soon. Is there anyway that I can correct the TA to between 6.5-8? In hindsight, it seems I should have added a lot less tartaric acid and left the pH higher for the fermentation. Any way to salvage this problem or discard it and learn from my mistakes? Thanks, Rhodes

 

[JohnSand]

Welcome aboard!
I haven't made wine, nor checked the ph of beers I brew, so I have no first hand advice to offer. You can browse or search and see if someone has similar experience. There's another recent thread on TA and ph changes:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...ive-fermentation-affect-a-ph-and-b-ta.701210/

 

[madgardener]

Welcome! Unfortunately, I can't help you with this -- I don't do grape wines because the fruit isn't available locally and I worry less about my ph levels because I'm generally shooting for semi-dry rather than dry wines and I need the acid to balance the sugars. But there are some incredible knowledgeable people on here, so someone maybe able to give you some answers. Good luck!

 

[Erik the Awful]

It's your first time making wine? I wouldn't pitch it just because the numbers aren't what you want. I've never measured pH nor TA. Granted, I make pretty random fruit wines, and only once have I made a purely grape wine, but don't get so nerdy that you pass up a good wine making experience. Wait until it's finished and see how it turns out.

 

[IslandLizard]

Any way to salvage this problem or discard it and learn from my mistakes?

Definitely do not discard the wine, certainly at this point!

I hope more experienced winemakers here see this thread and chime in with ideas on your best course of action.
I haven't seen @bernardsmith around lately.
Maybe @madscientist451 can offer some insights?

BTW, have you tasted it? Can you describe how it tastes now?