pH too low on finished wine

[jas3019]

Well I finally got around to buying a pH meter and decided to test my ready-to-bottle Viognier because it's pretty tart tasting. The only problem - the pH is at 2.77 and should be up to at least 3.1. I tested it a couple times and it was the same. The TA is 0.68% and I'm happy with that but know I could reduce it and still be ok.

So I need some advice. I think my options are:

1 - Backsweeten and see if that covers up the tart taste.

2 - Cold stabilize. Not sure if this will actually do what I want as it lowers acidity and may lower pH according to some people.

3 - Add a deacidifier. Potassium bicarbonate? Acidex? I'm not sure these will work for as much change as I'll need.

Any thoughts on what I should do?

 

[altavino]

Cold stabilising would be worth a try , your some people are wrong , with a wine like yours this will lower acidity and raise ph without negatively impacting the wines flavours.

get it down to -4 'C for a week or two. 12% wine is ok down to -7 but you need a safety buffer.

rack off the tartrate crystals , then taste and test again. for many this cold stabilisation is a default white wine practice , I cs every white wine I make. your numbers make this wine a perfect candidate for cs.

if that doesn't get you where you want to be you could add 2-4 tsp per carboy of biolees or morewines surlie http://morewinemaking.com/products/surlie.html?site_id=5 product and age for another 6 weeks . ( water out of a boiling kettle into blender blend on high, add your surlie ,add 1/2 liter wine , blend well then add to empty carboy , and rack wine into it, stir well when carboy is half full, then continue filling , prevents foaming over and ensures mix )
this will give the wine more mouthfeel and a sweeter character without actualy adding sugar, it will also bring out the viogniers aromatics.

if that doesn't get you where you want to be , you could blend with a less acidic wine or backsweeten .

I would avoid deacidifiyers if possible , they are best used in primary and post primary work but should be considered a tool of last resort.
if you have to acidex is the most effective as its a double salt http://store.homebrewheaven.com/acidex-2-oz-p105.aspx

 

[ibglowin]

All good advice options from John.

 

[jas3019]

Alrighty! Thanks for the quick responses. I have a chest freezer that the carboy will fit into and can leave it for a week or two. Hopefully that'll help it along.

I'll have to read up on the surlie from morewine. I've seen threads about the actual process but don't know anything about their additive.

 

[altavino]

traditional surlie ageing takes months of lees stiring , the surlie product is an organic extract of the same yeast elements that is faster and safer to use.
age for at least 5 weeks , if you left it in for 6 months that would still be fine , then rack off it.

make sure you don't freeze it , depending on how much alcohol is in it it could freeze in a chest freezer if too cold

 

[jas3019]

Ah crap..my chest freezer froze it. It was only in there about 12 hours but I wanted to check it this morning before work and it was slushy inside. I took it out to let it warm back up. Don't have a big enough refrigerator so cold stabilizing is a no-go at this point.

I'm thinking I'll just do a little bench test to see about sweetening it before I do anything with the surlie. From commercial bottles I've seen, some leave under 1% residual sugar so I'll test a few that way. It might be enough to take the edge off.

 

[BernardSmith]

How cold is it in Baltimore? If you have space outside (a garage , for example) you might be able to store it in a way that won't freeze the wine.. and if it is still too cold outside your house spring is on its way and so in a few weeks or so you should be able to keep it outside if you have that kind of space.

 

[jas3019]

Hmm..it's probably ok but we've had some pretty big swings over the last few days. Yesterday it got up to about 60 and overnight dropped to about 30. Would temperature swings like that be an issue?

 

[altavino]

thats why I gave a temperature , without an external thermostat controler a chest freezer sits at 0'F or -17'C

your garage is a better option even with the swings. you can always wrap it in blakets to moderate the swings.