Shiraz in Cape Town

[NCHSA]

Hi there, I’ve just joined from Cape Town. I am 8 days into my wine making journey. Making a small batch of Shiraz in the garage. Fermentation seems to be going according to plan. I am a bit worried about next steps, MLF and secondary fermentation. I don’t know what the status of the wine is in terms of different acidity levels. Wondering whether I should buy a pH meter? I plan to get busy reading your guide to the basics!

 

[Ohio Bob]

Welcome to WMT!

Are you making a juice bucket, kit, or from grapes? Kits and buckets will be balanced by the vendor, so no need to worry about the pH. If you can get pH testing strips, that would be the cheapest way to get started. MLF can be tricky, but needs warmer temperatures, MLF nutrients, and time. In my opinion, you need those 3 things.

 

[Rice_Guy]

welcome to WMT
The traditional answer to pH is grapes just naturally are harvested at the ideal sugar, pH, TA, tannin, aroma etc. Grandpa didn’t know what pH was, he just would taste and decide to pick or make adjustments based on flavor. No you don’t have to have pH as well as most tests.
If you ever do country wines pH is essential. If you ever do mixtures of grape and fruit pH is important. If you are deciding on adding acids it is essential. If you have never looked over grandpa’s shoulder it sure explains a lot of the chemistry. At some point I would budget purchasing one, not necessarily on your first batch.

 

[winemaker81]

Welcome to WMT!

Without knowing more, it's difficult to advise. What was the OG and what is the current SG?