Too much TA added...

[Siwash]

Hey folks,

I already knew this but I'm afraid I've added too much tartaric acid to a 2016 batch. I left it alone for a long time and tested it tonight hoping that time would have mellowed the acid.. guess not. The acid is overpowering any of the grape's characteristics... my wife said it "burned her nostrils" when she tasted it! Yikes... 2016 was the first year I experimented with TA adjustments... So inexperience played into this. I overdosed for sure. So is there any way I can "mellow" this acid? Can I bring back some of the characteristics of the grape (San gio/Melot blend - 75%-25%)

Appreciate any input!

P.S. - I added two french oak sticks tonight.. not sire of this will help...

 

[Ajmassa]

What’s the numbers?
If you added that much simply cold soaking it will drop out a lot of it. But if your ph is high then it’ll also raise your ph. If low (under 3.65) then cold stabelizing will lower the ph while dropping out the acid - preferred.

Otherwise potassium bicarbonate/calcium carbonate are your antacids to use.

 

[Siwash]

I'll check numbers and get back to you... don't know anything about cold soaking or adding PB

 

[user 36973]

cold soaking

He means cold stabilizating which should be done anyway and won't massively move the TA if you are way off.

Burning nostrils sounds like you've overdosed on sulfites. Too much tartaric will only taste tart. Could you have OD'd on sulfites too?

 

[Siwash]

I still haven't checked numbers... had a busy few days with kids' birthdays... will check this week.. possible that So2 is high too I suppose. But to me it's more of a case of an overly tart tasting wine..

Well, at least the wine is protected!

 

[Ajmassa]

I would just cross each bridge as it comes. Deacidifying wine is a lot of info. And alot depends on how much needs to be removed, how much wine you got, what kinda equipment you have access to, etc... best to dive into the options after testing, if they are high like you think.

And Cold soaking/cold crashing/cold stabelizing— all mean relatively the same thing. Just bringing the wine to lower temp (<50°) for an extended period of time which helps naturally drop out acid tartrates. Much easier to do in the winter.

 

[Siwash]

This wine was stored at temps as cold as 50F for 3 months - ranged between 50 and 55 from about late Dec to late March.. should I get it down to below 50 this winter?

 

[Ajmassa]

you likely need to do that with one of those deacidifying chemicals added, depending on the current levels.
I’ve only done the cold soak once myself. About 40° for 2 weeks. TA moved.1 I think. Really need the chemical addition with the cold soak to do it proper.

 

[dallase]

For best results, I cold stabilize @ 28° for ~2 weeks. I've had to use calcium bicarbonate 1 time. Be careful with that... if you have to add too much, you'll definitely taste it.

A better option might be to start a similar low acid wine... If your existing wine is say pH 3.1 and TA 9 g/l, then start a new wine where you have a TA around 4 g/l and pH around 3.9. Then when finished, blend the 2.

 

[BigH]

• Cold stabilize
• Acidex Super-K and/or sodium bicarbonate
• Cold stabilize again
• Blend with a high pH, low acid wine
• Dilute with water if you know your ABV is a bit on the high side anyway

H

 

[Siwash]

At some point this weekend I will test for numbers... will be interesting

thanks