Tom S ) wrote:

>"David C Breeden" > wrote in message
...
>> 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.

>Red wine at pH 3.2 is pretty user-unfriendly. Sure, it'll be _stable_, but
>nobody will want to drink it!

>As David said, pH 3.5 (and even higher) is perfectly acceptable for red
>wines. Actually, that's about where my Chardonnay usually ends up, and I've
>had no stability problems with it. The level of free SO2 is a bit higher,
>but 50 ppm free isn't all that high anyway.

>I've had some very fine Cabernets in the range of pH 3.8.

>FWIW, wine judges tend to prefer high pH wines over lower pH wines of equal
>quality.

>Tom S


Now Tom, let's not be all California-centric! Just 'cause you
hot-climate folks have high pH's as a matter of course, it doesn't
mean *everyone* does. There are lots and lots of lovely Rieslings
(German, Austrian, New York!) whose pH's are in the pH 3.00 range.

:-)

Dave
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Dave Breeden