This describes my Syrah grapes as well. PH=4.0 TA=.67. I adjusted to
PH=3.5 with LOTS of tartaric (it seemed to be a good buffer) and will cold
stabilize later to drop the excess TA. Might need a bit of potassium
carbonate even, but as long as you don't use too much it's really
undetectable in the wine. So I agree with Tom S about adjusting before
fermentation if you want a wine that isn't flabby. There's probably not a
lot of malic acid left in these grapes, but ML will bring the PH up a bit as
MIGHT cold stabilization later on but it's better than trying to age and
bottle a wine at PH 4.0+


John

"Brian Lundeen" > wrote in message
...
> A friend's Syrah grapes have a very high pH of 3.9, but he doesn't want to
> add acid because he is happy with the TA of .68.
>
> What is his best course of action?
>
> Thanks
> Brian
>
>