Wine has slight sour taste

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PJ805

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I have a 1 gallon batch of wine from fresh zinfandel grapes from a local winery. I didn't measure the acidity of the juice but I'm assuming it was on the higher side since it's had a sour taste since fermentation was complete. It's been aging for almost two months now with oak cubes. It smells great and the sourness has mellowed quite a bit. Will it continue to mellow as it ages or should i consider adding a 1/4 tsp (or maybe less) Potassium Bicarbonate?
 
Not enough info.

1. Starting sg
2. ending sg


That will tell what abv is.

From there you can decide what adjustments need doing.

Short answer is yes, wine improves with age.
 
Starting sg around 1.100 (going off of winery's word), ending sg .990. Might be worth mentioning after 4 days of primary it was already down to 1.000 at which point I racked and started secondary.
 
At .990 I’d stabilize it with potassium sorbate and kmeta, then back sweeten to 1.000 and then taste it. The sour taste may simply be that’s it’s too dry.
 
So just a thought, but young wine has lots of dissolved co2. In solution it is carbonic acid which has a slightly sour taste. Should come out of solution as it ages. The other risk is acetobacter which can give a vinegar taste.
 
So just a thought, but young wine has lots of dissolved co2. In solution it is carbonic acid which has a slightly sour taste. Should come out of solution as it ages. The other risk is acetobacter which can give a vinegar taste.

That is my experience, even my high pH wines can taste sharp right after fermentation due to high concentrations of CO2. Give it time, you'll be rewarded.

I can't see where you are from, but since Zin is a California thing, I'll assume you are in my neck of the woods. I have not seen any red wines made, whose grapes reached ripeness, that produced wine that was too acidic. Not saying it can't happen, but my experience is the opposite; we have the issue of acid retention. All this goes out the window if the winery did adjustments to the must before you received it, which may be worth asking.
 
That is my experience, even my high pH wines can taste sharp right after fermentation due to high concentrations of CO2. Give it time, you'll be rewarded.

I can't see where you are from, but since Zin is a California thing, I'll assume you are in my neck of the woods. I have not seen any red wines made, whose grapes reached ripeness, that produced wine that was too acidic. Not saying it can't happen, but my experience is the opposite; we have the issue of acid retention. All this goes out the window if the winery did adjustments to the must before you received it, which may be worth asking.

You are correct, the grapes are from Paso Robles. Regarding the must, I picked the grapes myself from their vineyard and juiced them by hand (wine press is on my shopping list for next time). Interestingly, I was able to pick some zinfandel from a different winery less than a mile away which came out fine. From the get go, the must from the first winery was lighter which puzzles me. Below is an image of the two side by side, left one is the more acidic one.
 

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You are correct, the grapes are from Paso Robles. Regarding the must, I picked the grapes myself from their vineyard and juiced them by hand (wine press is on my shopping list for next time). Interestingly, I was able to pick some zinfandel from a different winery less than a mile away which came out fine. From the get go, the must from the first winery was lighter which puzzles me. Below is an image of the two side by side, left one is the more acidic one.
I’m assuming you did not get a brix reading of the grapes or must? As grapes ripen, sugar rises, acids fall. It’s possible the acidic, lighter wine was made with grapes that were not ripe, thus the higher acid and lighter color. Have you tried a blend of the two?
 
That is my assumption that they weren't ripe yet since I didn't measure the brix. I had enough grapes from each to produce more than one gallon of wine so after primary I combined the extra from the two with some viognier into a third batch and it's now aging as well. Judging by what it tastes like I think it will come out really nice. I'll give the zin more time like you guys suggested. I can always use it for sangrias too :).
 

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