Acid Problem

[verysinfulwine]

Ok I'm new here and this is the very first problem I've ever had with flat wine. Right now, I have Honeysuckle and Cherry clearing..they look, smell and have a decent taste except they are flat. I read that I need to kick up the acid which I have with the cherry with acid blend. However I wonder if I need to add something else. Any advice? Thanks!

Donna

 

[Calvus]

Im sure that a lot of the experts will want your recipe with steps to best help give you advice.

 

[docanddeb]

You can try the acids separately. We like citric acid as a finish with most of ours. You can buy tartaric acid separately as well. Always do a bench trial first to see if you actually like it.

Debbie

 

[Julie]

I would not recomment using acids separately especially a new winemaker. You did the right thing in adding the acid blend to your cherry. What you need to do is get an acid test kit. They usually run around $10. You test for acid and the kit will tell you how much acid blend to add to bring your wine up to the correct level. If you do not have a local wine supply store, you can go to finewinevines.com and order from there.

Different fruits have different acids that are prominent in that fruit adding one particular acid may not be what that fruit wine needs, it is much safer to just use an acid blend.

 

[docanddeb]

The wine was already done fermenting and tasted flat, I believe. THEN you can take a glass, dip the end of a damp toothpick in the acid of your choice and swirl it in the glass. We usually just put a couple TBLS in the glass when doing this bench trial. Put different acids in different glasses to see what tastes good. It's amazing what a bit of acid will do to "brighten" a flat wine. We did this test at a wine club meeting as some had never experienced the different acids in a flat wine. They were quite surprised at the difference it could make!
How old is this wine? That makes a difference too. Wine goes through several phases and it's good to taste all along the way so you understand what is "normal". If it hasn't been sweetened yet, do a little test in a glass with that as well. Even wines that you want "dry" tasting, can be helped with just a touch of sugar to smooth it all out.
As you can see, there is no wrong way. It's just whatever you like the taste of.
Have Fun!

Debbie

 

[verysinfulwine]

Thanks for all of the suggestions!

I really like the toothpick one and I'll have to check with the place we have been getting our supplies from in the area to see if they have a test kit. I'll be working with it tomorrow to see if I need to do anything else to it (hopefully not but I have a feeling I will).

Donna