Chardonnay from grapes pH adjustment

[ryankelley]

I have 6 gallons of chardonnay going through MLF right now. I was using testing strips to measure pH, but I now have a meter and it revealed the strips were very accurate! I'm sitting at 3.7 pH and wondering if it needs more tartaric than I've already added. To the taste, it's a wee bit tart... I added a lot of tartaric to get it to this level. I guess I didn't have great grapes...

 

[salcoco]

wait until MLF is done before deciding on any additions

 

[ryankelley]

wait until MLF is done before deciding on any additions

Okay, thanks. I'm not a pro at wine making, so I appreciate advice from those who know more than me. I just googled some and see the tartaric isn't part of the ML fermentation, which was my concern. I was thinking I needed to add the acid before MLF was complete to make sure the bacteria could work on it.

Hopefully the MLF will take away the tartness.

 

[salcoco]

MLF is malolatic fermentation. is a bacterial fermentation versus a yeast fermentation. it converts malic acid to lactic acid. it is supposed to improve mouthfeel and reduce malic acid in the wine. a yest fermentation converts sugar to alcohol. ponce MLF is completer to taste tests to determine any further action.

 

[ryankelley]

Thanks. I need to step up my game and get a total total acid and SO2 test kit(s). I test pH and SG but I know the pros say they make good wine because the test total acid and SO2. I don't have access to perfect fruit, so I need to make the necessary tweaks to bring it where it needs to be.