High Acidity

[vscottcolorado]

My Lodi Cab has been stabilized and bulk aging since the first of November. Racked again yesterday and took a taste, seems the acid is high. Can I adjust it now that it is stabilized?

 

[ibglowin]

I wouldn't mess with it. I think the cure is worse than the disease.

Did you do MLF? That would help with lowering the acid. What are the numbers currently?

You could also try cold stabilization as a "natural" way of lowering the acid.

 

[Dean]

if you stabilized with sorbate, you should stay away from MLF now. I'm with Mike. Cold Stabilization to drop some acid out, and if it's still harsh, you can do some bench trials with chalk to neutralize acid. Better yet, would be to do another low acid cab, and blend.

 

[robie]

Hi Scott,

As the others said, cold stabilize outside When it was really cold, I kept a carboy in the garage. Now that it is warmer, you might put the wine on the back porch. Just remember that it can freeze if the temp gets too low.

Good to see you are still alive and well!

 

[vscottcolorado]

I did use potassium sorbate. Can I still cold stabilize? Both Carboys would fit in my garage refer. What is the process?

 

[ibglowin]

Just stick it in the garage for 2-3 weeks. The colder the better. I cold stabilized my 12 gallons of fresh grape wine back in early January. We had some incredibly COLD weather during this time. I had diet cokes explode from freezing in the garage. The carboys were on carpet but the garage is unheated and the doors are uninsulated. It got down to 10 degrees easily in the mornings in the garage.

I had a wireless temp gauge on to monitor the garage temps and carboy (wine temps) as well. The wine (liquid temp) got down to 25 degrees for a bout a week. It doesn't freeze due to the amount of ethanol. Just handle the carboy with extra caution when moving from the cold back in to warm and let it come up to temp slowly.

I actually had a load of tartaric acid fall out AFTER bringing it back into the winery and letting it warm up. I added 40 gms at fermentation as the pH was high (3.83) and the acid low (4.5g/l). After adding I got the pH down to a much more respectable 3.6 and the acid was up to 7.5 g/l.

 

[vscottcolorado]

Since my garage is heated and isolated I will use the refer in the garage. Should be able to keep it around 36-38, but will monitor it. Thanks to all

 

[ibglowin]

That should do just fine.

 

[robie]

Since my garage is heated and isolated I will use the refer in the garage. Should be able to keep it around 36-38, but will monitor it. Thanks to all

At that temp, keep in frig for 3 to 4 weeks. It should stabilize fine.

 

[vscottcolorado]

Just racked and bottled it this weekend. What a differance. Very pleased with 4 weeks in the refer, thanks all.

 

[Wade E]

Glad it worked well for you, did you have a good layer of crystals in the carboy?

 

[vscottcolorado]

Had some but very hard pack of Sed. as well. Taste was awesome! Much more balanced then before. Will open first bottle at '11 crush this fall and see how it is coming along. This fall will be my 3rd. year with gapes and I will be doing much more testing instead of relying on the supplier.

 

[Wade E]

Awesome!

 

[ibglowin]

Good to hear Scott!

 

[robie]

Had some but very hard pack of Sed. as well. Taste was awesome! Much more balanced then before. Will open first bottle at '11 crush this fall and see how it is coming along. This fall will be my 3rd. year with gapes and I will be doing much more testing instead of relying on the supplier.

Hey Scott,
Remember that one-year old bottle of fresh grape Cab you let me sample last September at the crush? I remember it was spicy and developing nicely back then. Bet that guy is getting really nice by now. (hint, hint)

I think you've gotten the fresh grape process down really well. Maybe you could use an apprentice.

 

[vscottcolorado]

What was it , about a year ago when we meet? I was into drinking my wines about 2 weeks after bottling. Now it's all about seeing if I can get 2-3 years on my remaining Reds. Have my new wine area/cellar designed and will be moving mechanical this weekend, can't wait to get started.
Have a contact now at Colterris Winery in Grand Valley, (Grand Junction). More then happy to sell some Cabernet Grapes this fall, as long as yields are up from last year. Will even be going over to help with the harvest. I'll be in touchif you are interested.

 

[robie]

What was it , about a year ago when we meet? I was into drinking my wines about 2 weeks after bottling. Now it's all about seeing if I can get 2-3 years on my remaining Reds. Have my new wine area/cellar designed and will be moving mechanical this weekend, can't wait to get started.
Have a contact now at Colterris Winery in Grand Valley, (Grand Junction). More then happy to sell some Cabernet Grapes this fall, as long as yields are up from last year. Will even be going over to help with the harvest. I'll be in touchif you are interested.

Yep I remember, you two had the wine drank before it had a chance to mature. V and I don't have that problem, she won't touch it until it is ready to drink.

Sorry I took so long to respond. Been busy. Just bottled a batch for a friend. She and hubby asked me to make a RJS Summer wine - Sangria w/Seville oranges. I made one last year and they loved it. Don't know why but this batch actually tastes better than last year's.

I'm getting ready for summer - now fermenting an RJS peach chardonnay and black cherry Pinot Noir. Hope they are as good as last year's summer wines. Like last year, I'll put these guys in the wine-on-tap bags and serve them that way. Doing so really worked out well last year. I'll save you a bottle of each.

Not counting the summer wines in the fermentors, I have six 6-gallon carboys of wine to bottle. Ugh!

Hey, I am always interested in fresh grapes. Whether I buy or not, I could go along for the ride and help you move the grapes.