Thought I would pose this question to the forum. My merlot grapes seem to do the same thing every year. They are the first to ripen (Sangiovese next, then cab) and also the highest brim of the bunch. Just measured again yesterday and brix is 24.5 but the pH is already at 3.5. The things I read tell me that is a pretty high pH.....so I will likely pick this coming weekend (couldn't have picked earlier...don't ask). But I am curious about other's opinions.....would you rather pick earlier with lower sugar and a higher acid level? Or just keep driving the brix up and fix the pH before fermentation? Grapes look great...not really dimply yet so I guess I could let them go longer but that will result in less acidity.....
Higher Brix or Lower pH?
- Thread starter richinsd
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if the brix is low I add sugar, and if ph is high I. add acid. I just taste flavor. if you think they have a nice bold character and the flavor profile is what you are looking for I'd pick when you are ready to make, I get my grapes the day I am free time crush,
3.5 is actually a little on the low end for Merlot or any red vinifera variety grown in a warm/hot climate. I would let them hang until they are a little higher myself. 3.6-3.8 would be perfect IMHO.
This is interesting. If you picked that high...would you adjust back to a higher acidity (lower pH) after crush? I'm not sure where I read it (probably one of the red winemaking cheat sheets I have) but pH for reds were targeted at 3.3 to 3.5....better for aging, stability, spoilage, etc.....just curious.
Like @winechef, I manage final acid additions by taste. I may take a pH reading, but it's for curiosity.
Be cautious of managing by numbers -- pH is a measure of ionization, and it can be fickle. AND -- it's just one measurement in a complex solution. You might have 3 reds with pH of 3.2, 3.4, and 3.6, respectively, and all taste just right.
Regarding driving the brix up -- what is your goal? If you're trying to make a high ABV wine, that I 'spose that is a good idea.
No, a starting pH in the range of 3.5-3.8 is the goldilocks range. TA is also important and should be measured. It is important to note that when a wine has just finished AF (alcoholic fermentation) it will be loaded with carbonic acid from trapped CO2 which will temporarily lower the pH of the wine. Once you do MLF then the pH will rise back up toward your desired pH of 3.6-3.8 range.
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grape skins smell better at high brix. You can always drop pH (I use citric acid after MLF) if you need to.
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I just read a WineMaker magazine article that discussed this very situation. The author’s stance was to use taste as an initial guide for ripeness so there was no ‘green-ness’ to the berries even if the stems and seeds were brown. They continued that it was better to have a higher pH even if the brix was quite a bit higher because it was more natural to bring the sugar down with a little blending or slight amount of water than to bring the pH up with chemicals.
Blending makes sense, although the caveat is that an appropriate blending wine must be available, which is often not true for home winemakers.
Watering back to reduce brix makes sense. For a must at 25 brix, adding 5% water reduces the brix to 23.8, and 10% to 22.5.
However, while watering back changes the brix in a linear fashion, pH is a logarithm, and off the top of my head, gauging that change may not work as expected. It's likely to raise the pH more than desired, which means adding tartaric acid.
I don't see a one-size-fits-all solution; rather, each instance needs to be thought through before doing.
Thank you for this. You have caused me to rethink how I've been going about things. Maybe I need to put the gauges down and go with the flavors/feels/seeds more. I've only had a few harvests so still learning. It doesn't help when I'm tasting wine from what I picked a couple of years ago and trying to remember what was going through my mind re: measurements/flavors etc. I've tried to capture some notes during each harvest...but it's hard to get very good at something you get such infrequent practice at.
Write the notes anyway. You won't get better if you don't practice. Re-reading those notes later on will be helpful, including helping you figure out how you want to write future notes.
Putting down the test equipment and trusting your senses is scary. Numbers seem so concrete, and they are. But they're not necessarily useful in a given situation.
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