Acid blend in recipes - a question asked with some irony

Why is it that so many posted recipes include the addition of "acid blend"? Clearly some wines made from some fruits and flowers are not likely to be very tart or acidic (and beginning wine makers may be a little surprised to learn which fruits seem to be very acidic in their own right - strawberries for example) but published recipes seem to assume that no matter what the TA might be the wine will benefit from added acidity. I don't know that that is a good rule of thumb. First, because the wine may be tart enough with the addition of any blend of acids, and secondly because if the addition of acid results in a pH that is around 3.0 (pH measures the strength of the acids in the wine - TA measures the amount of acids - two different metrics. Some acids are weak and others are strong and you can have a lot/little of weak acids and a lot/little of strong acids) this can put enough stress on the yeast to inhibit fermentation.

Needless to say, I don't add acid blend to any wine unless it tastes bland and seems to need some sort of jolt that increased acidity might bring. I raise this question because I had made some elderflower mead that was just about ready to bottle. I make elderflower wine (not mead) frequently but the mead version tasted ... dull. Bland. It had no kick. I thought that the problem might be a low TA. My plan was to add acid blend. Turns out that the TA is .6% before I add a drop of acid and it will not take much acid blend to raise the TA a notch (.05%) - certainly nothing like the amounts of acid blend that published recipes call for... So this is just an observation about the fact that recipes often ask you to add acid blend but it strikes me that the need for acid blend can only ever be determined AFTER the wine has been made and has aged and is ready to bottle.
Thoughts?

I tend to think of any wine recipes I find out there as just hints and suggestions. Many say add xxx lbs of sugar, one you you may need twice that amount, the next half that amount. I always find a recipe and modify the amounts saying things like sugar to 1.085, Acid till ph of 3.3-3.5 TA of .65, saving that for later use. and I write on each recipe I make what it took to get to that amount that time, sometimes it helps to have an idea.

That way almost always works for me.

Bernard,
So you aren't adding any acid up front, regardless of what fruit is used?
You are making your additions, if any, after fermentation is complete?

Well, I always tell people, a recipe should only be use for guidance. I look at a recipe was to what one winemaker has done. You need to test before adding anything. Amount of sugar will probably be different, PH and TA will definitely be different. Also, tannins. I have noticed that seasons where the fruit did not produce as good as other years, tannins seem to be weak.

I check PH and adjust my PH prior to fermentation, then after fermentation I will adjust acid by taste.

the addition of a acid blend to me is not logical. as it is a blend , you are adding citric acid to a wine that does not require it. it is best to measure the requirement for acid. then follow the government regs for wine makers. use tartaric for grape wines. malic acid for apple. citric acid for berry wines . all other fruit use tartaric.many fruit such as blackberry in most cases do not require acid. measure first then add the appropriate acid. post fermentation adds can also be done , but only after taste test warrant.

D.J. Yes. I don't add any acidity until I am about ready to bottle... It always strikes me that adding any acidity before I taste the wine is akin to pouring salt on a plate before you have tasted the dish...and IMO no dish that is properly cooked needs to have salt added...

Julie, I guess I rarely check pH before I pitch the yeast unless I have a reason to suspect that the pH may be way out of line and even then I think I check the pH only if the rate of fermentation seems particularly sluggish. Since I am not adding acid and since I make wines from fruits and honey and flowers rather than grapes I assume that the pH is going to be above 3.2 and above 3.2 I don't worry about the action of the acidity on the yeast. And I very much agree that recipes are best for guidance but I suspect that most novice wine makers treat recipes as if they are gospel.
cmason, Totally, agree with you that as far as I am concerned recipes are for ideas but for me the "idea" is simply as basic as I never thought about using THAT fruit or THOSE flowers.. after that I ignore the recipe and use my own preferences. IMO, most recipes use too little fruit, dilute the flavors with water, add all kinds of additives for the sake of - what? making wine more complicated than it needs to be? It's like home brewers that throw in the kitchen sink- as if using ten ingredients makes a better beer. Simple is best as long as the simple produces the complexity of flavor and pleasure that is found in the fruit and in the honey and in the flowers.

I think it is beneficial to use acid additions preferment so that you know what level of sulfite is needed to protect the wine. I've made some herbal/floral wines which started at 4.2. I've made a persimmon wine which started at 4.5. The charts which tell you how much sulfite is need to protect the wine don't even go that high.

I think that the main argument against acid blend is the one Salcoco makes. To me, malic acid has no role in most country wines, apple and crabapple being the exceptions. I've had wines with an unexpected "appley" taste and I believe it to be the fault of the acid blend.

My current practice is to use tartaric on grape and elderberry, citric on most berry, citrus, and tropical fruit wines, and tartaric/citric on the herbal/floral wines. I add and adjust preferment, aiming for the high end of the expected pH range, then make further postferment adjustments based on taste.