It looks like I will end up with some very tart wine this year. The wine I
have started sampling has a very nice light fruity aroma and taste but it
is quite tart. MLF reduced it somewhat. I don't think the resulting wine
will be acid balanced even after cold stabilization.
Most acid balance discussions in this forum have suggested adding one of the
carbonates before fermentation begins.
I wonder if treating with potassium bicarbonate now after MLF could help or
will the taste be spoiled? What have other people tried in this situation
and what was the result?

Joe

"Joe Ae" wrote in message
...
It looks like I will end up with some very tart wine this year. The wine
I
have started sampling has a very nice light fruity aroma and taste but it
is quite tart. MLF reduced it somewhat. I don't think the resulting wine
will be acid balanced even after cold stabilization.
Most acid balance discussions in this forum have suggested adding one of
the
carbonates before fermentation begins.
I wonder if treating with potassium bicarbonate now after MLF could help
or
will the taste be spoiled? What have other people tried in this
situation
and what was the result?
Hi Joe,

You should be fine treating with potassium (bi)carbonate. I do it when
the wine is toward the end of the aging process, after cold stabilization.
If cold stabilization hasn't reduced the TA to where I want it (judging by
taste) I add potassium carbonate to the cold wine (that way there's no
foaming) and let it react slowly for a few days or a week. There's no
discernable impact on taste if you're only dropping 2-3gm/liter. Any more
than that and there might be a taste impact. You have to chill the wine to
get the full benefit of the acid reduction. If you're sure that the wine is
too tart there should be no harm in doing it now, but there's no harm in
waiting either.

Regards,

John

"John DeFiore" wrote in message
...

"Joe Ae" wrote in message
...
It looks like I will end up with some very tart wine this year. The
wine
I
have started sampling has a very nice light fruity aroma and taste but
it
is quite tart. MLF reduced it somewhat. I don't think the resulting
wine
will be acid balanced even after cold stabilization.
Most acid balance discussions in this forum have suggested adding one of
the
carbonates before fermentation begins.
I wonder if treating with potassium bicarbonate now after MLF could help
or
will the taste be spoiled? What have other people tried in this
situation
and what was the result?
Hi Joe,

You should be fine treating with potassium (bi)carbonate. I do it when
the wine is toward the end of the aging process, after cold stabilization.
If cold stabilization hasn't reduced the TA to where I want it (judging by
taste) I add potassium carbonate to the cold wine (that way there's no
foaming) and let it react slowly for a few days or a week. There's no
discernable impact on taste if you're only dropping 2-3gm/liter. Any more
than that and there might be a taste impact. You have to chill the wine
to
get the full benefit of the acid reduction. If you're sure that the wine
is
too tart there should be no harm in doing it now, but there's no harm in
waiting either.

Regards,

John


Hi John

How cold should the wine be when you add the potassium carbonate? I have
the wine in a cold garage now. Can I perform this at cold stabilization
temps or should I bring it in first?
How do you stop the process after it reacts for a few days-a week?
Do you cold stabilize again afterwards?

thanks

Joe

"Joe Ae" wrote in message
...

Hi John

How cold should the wine be when you add the potassium carbonate? I have
the wine in a cold garage now. Can I perform this at cold stabilization
temps or should I bring it in first?
How do you stop the process after it reacts for a few days-a week?
Do you cold stabilize again afterwards?

Hi Joe,

You can add potassium carbonate at any temperature. If you do it when the
wine is warm, it will foam like baking soda added to vinegar. If you do it
at cold stabilization temperatures it won't foam, but it will take a few
days to complete the acid reduction. In either case you have to cold
stabilize for about a week or so after adding to get the full acid
reduction. You can't stop the reaction- .66 grams per liter of potassium
bicarbonate will reduce the TA of the wine by one gram/liter and then the
reaction is done. So, you need to add just the right amount by doing
trials, or do it in small 1g/l steps. Double check the amount to add because
it's different for potassium carbonate and potassium BIcarbonate.

Good luck,

John

"John DeFiore" wrote in message
...

"Joe Ae" wrote in message
...

Hi John

How cold should the wine be when you add the potassium carbonate? I
have
the wine in a cold garage now. Can I perform this at cold stabilization
temps or should I bring it in first?
How do you stop the process after it reacts for a few days-a week?
Do you cold stabilize again afterwards?

Hi Joe,

You can add potassium carbonate at any temperature. If you do it when
the
wine is warm, it will foam like baking soda added to vinegar. If you do
it
at cold stabilization temperatures it won't foam, but it will take a few
days to complete the acid reduction. In either case you have to cold
stabilize for about a week or so after adding to get the full acid
reduction.

You will also need to degas the wine again to get rid of the dissolved CO2.
That's best done when the wine is at room temperature.

Tom S