glad heart ) wrote:
>Thanks for your response Tom.

>> First off, those sound like pretty reasonable numbers for a red wine, but
>> I'm confused. If you reduce the pH the wine will become even _more_ tart.

>I'm concerned about the pH being too high from a stability point of
>view. I'd like to age the wines if I can get the chemistry right.
>Pambianchi suggests pH closer to 3.1 or 3.2. Ideally I need to lower
>pH a little and TA even more (I think).

>So, basic procedure(?): add tartaric to lower pH and then chill (with
>or without a reducing agent like KHCO3)?

>TIA and cheers,

>Jim

As long as your pH is below 3.65 or so, you will drop both TA and
pH when you cold stabilize. The trick is for you would be to add
KHCO3 to lower (wtih cold stabilization) acidity, but not so muchtat
you raise your pH above 3.65.

But what Tom said is exactly right--get it so that it TASTES right.
Wine with a pH of 3.5 is absolutely stable. I'm happy with anything
below 3.6 or so, and there are people who go much higher. Most reds
will not have pH's anywhere near 3.1 or 3.2, and really, they don't
need to.

Dave
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Dave Breeden