Chardonnay help?

[galaxy_5]

So this is my first year working from grapes since I am fortunate enough to now be stationed in central California and the gettin's good here! So yesterday I picked up about 100# of chardonnay from down in the central valley. It's testing at almost 30 brix with a pH about 4.0. So using the online calculator at vinoenology.com it looks like the 6 gallons of juice I have I need to add 1.7 gal of water to get the brix down to 24. I pressed yesterday evening, and my homebrew store isn't open until tomorrow, so I won't be able to buy tartaric acid until then (and add tomorrow evening, nearly 48 hours after pressing and 60 hours after picking). Is this an acceptable course of action or am I royally hosed at this point? Of course I want a balanced chardonnay, but do I eat it now and adjust the acid after fermentation or hold the yeast until I can adjust the acid?

 

[Julie]

Sorry I didn't see this post earlier but if you can get to your LHBS first thing this morning I would go ahead and add the tartaric acid. It is always good to adjust prior to fermentation but you will not ruin the wine if you do it after fermentation.

 

[salcoco]

Normally you wait 24 hours for wine to clear the rack off residual skins etc before adding yeast. another 24 hours will not hurt Keep wine cold, add potassium metabisulphite the do acid adjustments. Proper Ph is necessary for good environment for yeast. Ph at 4.0 invites other bacteria to inhabit wine.

 

[galaxy_5]

Thanks guys. Sounds like I'll be okay. When I was picking up all my stuff last week I didn't even think about needing acid adjustments. Won't make that mistake again.

 

[JohnT]

Could not agree more with the others. Adjust, then pitch yeast.

 

[galaxy_5]

Got the must down to 25 brix and 3.6 pH. I think I'll go with it as is, as these numbers seem more in line with everything I read, although still not perfect. With an already-higher pH, should I now not do MLF? Also, very possible I won't be able to keep the must as cold as it should be for a typical chardonnay. If it ferments at 75*, how detrimental will that be?

 

[JohnT]

At 75f you should be fine. This is the temp that I normally start my chards. Some even prefer it even cooler then that.

The temp will rise as fermentation really gets going.

 

[ibglowin]

Those are pretty good numbers now all things considered. You can always toss in a pound of dry ice to cool things down and "buy" you some more time while you round up a missing ingredient like in this case. Downside is then waiting for the must to warm back up so you can pitch the yeast. Darn stuff works really well at cooling things down really fast!

 

[galaxy_5]

I checked again tonight and it has fermented so quickly. It's now down to 4 brix on the hydrometer and still sitting around 3.6 pH, maybe 3.5 since it's difficult to extrapolate colors with the pH strips. I've been able to keep the temp about 67-69* by wrapping the carboys with wet towels and pointing a fan at them. With that success of temperature control, I didn't think I'd have such a quick ferment!

So this brings me to an observation, but I don't think a problem. When I tasted a sample after testing tonight, it tasted a little bit like bananas (I would attribute that to the fruitiness mixed with the yeastiness), but on the end was quite tart. With the pH being 3.6, I wasn't planning on doing MLF because I didn't want a higher pH to become a liability. Is this tartness due to the acid blend I used in my prefermentation acid adjustments, or is it just the youth? I have the malolactic starter already, should I go ahead with it?

Thanks,
Andy

 

[ShawnDTurner]

With a P.H. that high you will need to add the proper dose of K-meta. In my opinion, Chard should be lower than 3.6 More in the range of 3.2 - 3.3. MLF is stylistic choice, you do not have to MLF. If you want that fat buttery California style of Chard, then you will need to MLF. Your current PH suggest the perfect range to induce MLF. Understand when you induce MLF your P.H will rise (3.7-3.8). Some may have different opinions on this subject matter.. Cheers!

 

[galaxy_5]

With a P.H. that high you will need to add the proper dose of K-meta.

Thanks for bringing this up. I hadn't thought about this, so what kind of dosage would you suggest?

Understand when you induce MLF your P.H will rise (3.7-3.8). Cheers!

Yeah, that's what I was worried about. I'd like to get some of that tart flavor out of it, but I don't want the wine to taste too flabby or be vulnerable. I like a crisper chardonnay, but not tart. I'll give a taste again when I check on it tonight and think about starting MLF then. I was also going to leave the oak out of this one, but may rethink if it looks like it's going to be too tart.

 

[ShawnDTurner]

If you are going to go with your current PH of 3.6 you will need 50 ppm in order to protect this wine. Understand anything over 50 can be detected on the nose and the palate of the wine. You will need to check the current level of so2 of your wine before you make your addition. Cheers!

 

[galaxy_5]

Thanks Shawn. I don't really want to get too crazy with the SO2 to the point it becomes noticeable, but I don't want acid additions to become too dominant. That's why this is an art! Now time to get to work...