Hi all- quick question. I have been doing some research and am unable to find a concrete answer. I have a Barbera that has a ph of 3.0 with TA of .70g/. Would cold stabilization work to increase the wine's ph? This is a Chilean made from juice last spring and I would like to bottle soon. Thanks.
Increase ph in red wine
- Thread starter Matty_Kay
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It's not too bad, just a little on the tart side. I was just thinking maybe some time outside for a week or 2 with temps in the 25-30 range would possible increase the ph just enough to remove the smidgen of tartness and round it out. Just thought of taking advantage of mother nature on a slightly tart wine.
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Barbera comes in late here in Central California with a sugar between 26 and 28 Brix. The PH can be around 3.2. We will add spring water to adjust to 25 Brix and Potassium Carbonate to get the PH to 3.45. If you want to keep the skin ratio up, draw off some juice and make a Rose with it. We like BM45 or a new yeast, 4x4, which is a BM45 blend with another yeast. Getting it to go through a Maloactic fermentation is a beast with BM45 but well worth it. Put it up in Hungarian Oak for a year if possible.
Getting malo to work in a wine with a ph at 3.0 to 3.2, with temps below 70 degrees F. and total added SO2 above 70ppm is not going to happen. Next time put the Malo culture in the day before you start the primary fermentation, after a cold soak of a couple of days and see what happens. It will happen if you provide the nutrients for both the yeast and the Malo culture and the heat from the primary fermentation makes the Malo beasties happy campers.This works for us. Oh, and find a Malo culture that works down to 3.0 ph. Add the SO2 when the malic acid is down where you like it, usually after after pressing and the first racking to get it off the gross lees. Get it tested.
Thank for the info Whombat, good stuf for future reference. Since Barbera was made from a juice bucket and is in the bulk aging stage, would cold stabilizing now possibly increase ph just enough to round it out? Mlf never really took off, I used vp 41 and after a few months of little to no activity I moved on by racking & sulfites.
Yeah, I now have a ph meter so I plan on testing all of my musts prior to fermentation and make any adjustment, if any, then. I was flying a bit blind as I was a total noobie a year ago, and still consider myself a beginner. But, I have been able to learn a ton from the fine folks on this site and like most, start to apply the wealth of knowledge I have learned here to future wines.
Yes, drop the temp below 35F and add some cream of tartar to get the crystals to grow, should be done in a week or two, ph will come up about .1 to .15
I have had good luck with MBR 31 for low pH MLF. It seems to work down to about 3.0-3.1 pH.
Definitely cold stabilize. It will help round out the taste. I would think this will be even better after a couple years in the bottle - if you can stand to wait that long!
Definitely cold stabilize. It will help round out the taste. I would think this will be even better after a couple years in the bottle - if you can stand to wait that long!
Stressbaby
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Thanks for the link, I read a similar article which is/was my reason for confusion regarding this topic. In my limited knowledge of cold stabilization, I assumed that acid crystals would drop out no matter what, thus minimizing the acid within the wine and making it less tart once racked off of the acid crystals.
Maybe the end result would be actually lowering T/A, which would create a less acidic/tart wine?
Maybe the end result would be actually lowering T/A, which would create a less acidic/tart wine?
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Stressbaby
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