PH at 3.75

[wineview]

I opened a three year old bottle of Barolo. It has a really perfect taste and soft feel in the mouth. Seems like it went through its own MLF. When I take a PH reading, it seems high at 3.75. Does a high PH mean an acidic wine or am I not understanding what PH means.

 

[Johnd]

I opened a three year old bottle of Barolo. It has a really perfect taste and soft feel in the mouth. Seems like it went through its own MLF. When I take a PH reading, it seems high at 3.75. Does a high PH mean an acidic wine or am I not understanding what PH means.

The higher the pH, the less acidic the wine is, inversely, the lower the pH, the more acidic the wine is. 3.75 is just fine for a red wine.

 

[wineview]

The higher the pH, the less acidic the wine is, inversely, the lower the pH, the more acidic the wine is. 3.75 is just fine for a red wine.

That was the conclusion I came with. But whenever I googled ph for red wine it alway came up at 3.3 to 3.6. Question….what would a PH of 4.0 be like.

 

[Rice_Guy]

MLF question; if it has gone through this there is CO2 produced and the bottle might explode or froth like Champaign.
pH question; on some of my wines I have gone back and periodically sampled. It appears that the pH increases over years time by itself. Asking Dr Google there seems to be a reaction between the acids and alcohol producing esthers/ removing the acid from the system. I haven’t seen a good paper about storage so my observed change may just be an artifact.

 

[winemaker81]

That was the conclusion I came with. But whenever I googled ph for red wine it alway came up at 3.3 to 3.6. Question….what would a PH of 4.0 be like.

A pH of 4 would probably be a flabby tasting wine, missing the zing acid gives a wine.

The numbers are only a part of the picture. If the numbers told the story it would be easy to make a perfect wine each time. However, wine is a highly complex beverage and the interplay of parts is unique in every wine. Most red wines may be fine with a pH between 3.3 and 3.6, but some are best with value higher and lower. Take with a grain of salt any article that lists hard limits.

 

[wineview]

MLF question; if it has gone through this there is CO2 produced and the bottle might explode or froth like Champaign.
pH question; on some of my wines I have gone back and periodically sampled. It appears that the pH increases over years time by itself. Asking Dr Google there seems to be a reaction between the acids and alcohol producing esthers/ removing the acid from the system. I haven’t seen a good paper about storage so my observed change may just be an artifact.

Zero carbonation. I mentioned MLF because the wine is very soft on the palette and I thought that perhaps it went though it on its own. I did not inoculate.

 

[Nebbiolo020]

3.7 is perfect for red wine I’ve seen ph levels at as much as 4.3 at harvest which is flabby as hell. You would need to correct a wine prior to fermentation if the ph was over 3.7. For whites 2.8-3.3 is desirable,