Joe - What were the starting numbers for the Baco juice before fermentation
and what is the pH and %TA for the wine now? I grow Baco and have made wine
from this grape for 6 years and have some thoughts on how to make wine from
it.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

"Joe Ae" wrote in message
. ..
Last fall I made a batch of baco noir. The grapes were in very good
condition but the TA was high. The only any acid reduction I did was mlf
and
cold stabilization. The wine has sat in 54L DJs (racked twice) with a
little oak and now I bottled a few for tasting. The wine is clear and has
a
good colour (dark and full-bodied) but the taste isn't very exciting also
after the wine sits in the glass for 15 minutes it seems to acquire a sour
aftertaste.
Is this all there is to baco noir or did I mess by not balancing the acid
when I started? What can I do now with the other 2 DJs? Can I add more
oak
and age for another 6 months?

thanks

Joe

Hi Bill

The juice readings we TA : 1.42%, Brix : 19.5 adjusted to 22

I don't have a ph meter. I am not confident of the TA reading of the
finished wine but I am guessing it is around 0.9%.

Joe

"William Frazier" wrote in message
...
Joe - What were the starting numbers for the Baco juice before
fermentation
and what is the pH and %TA for the wine now? I grow Baco and have made
wine
from this grape for 6 years and have some thoughts on how to make wine
from
it.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

"Joe Ae" wrote in message
. ..
Last fall I made a batch of baco noir. The grapes were in very good
condition but the TA was high. The only any acid reduction I did was mlf
and
cold stabilization. The wine has sat in 54L DJs (racked twice) with a
little oak and now I bottled a few for tasting. The wine is clear and
has
a
good colour (dark and full-bodied) but the taste isn't very exciting
also
after the wine sits in the glass for 15 minutes it seems to acquire a
sour
aftertaste.
Is this all there is to baco noir or did I mess by not balancing the
acid
when I started? What can I do now with the other 2 DJs? Can I add more
oak
and age for another 6 months?

thanks

Joe

Joe -
We really need to know the pH and TA of your remaining wine to make any
recommendations. If you can get good numbers for the remaining wine we can
discuss how to adjust. I suspect the acid is still high. There are several
ways to lower TA and I've tried most of them with success so there is hope
for your remaining wine. The easiest method is to add K bicarbonate. When I
do this I hang a pH probe in the bulk wine. Calculate the theoretical
amount of K bicarb. to add. Then I add this amount slowly while watching pH
rise. With Baco it's tricky because the wine will turn brown if pH gets
much above 3.6.

You say you have two 55L DJs of wine left. With this volume of wine you can
really improve Baco by putting the wine in a barrel. I age my Baco in a
Gibbs Brothers 10 gallon barrel and it really helps the wine. Builds body
and adds a real red wine flavor. The oak barrel treatment will really help
this wine if you can go that route.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

"Joe Ae" wrote in message
...
The juice readings we TA : 1.42%, Brix : 19.5 adjusted to 22
I don't have a ph meter. I am not confident of the TA reading of the
finished wine but I am guessing it is around 0.9%.

Thanks for the suggestions Bill.
I will try lowering the acid a bit. I will shop around for a PH meter and
Oak barrel. They have been on my shopping list for a while.

Joe

"William Frazier" wrote in message
...
Joe -
We really need to know the pH and TA of your remaining wine to make any
recommendations. If you can get good numbers for the remaining wine we
can
discuss how to adjust. I suspect the acid is still high. There are
several
ways to lower TA and I've tried most of them with success so there is hope
for your remaining wine. The easiest method is to add K bicarbonate. When
I
do this I hang a pH probe in the bulk wine. Calculate the theoretical
amount of K bicarb. to add. Then I add this amount slowly while watching
pH
rise. With Baco it's tricky because the wine will turn brown if pH gets
much above 3.6.

You say you have two 55L DJs of wine left. With this volume of wine you
can
really improve Baco by putting the wine in a barrel. I age my Baco in a
Gibbs Brothers 10 gallon barrel and it really helps the wine. Builds body
and adds a real red wine flavor. The oak barrel treatment will really
help
this wine if you can go that route.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

"Joe Ae" wrote in message
...
The juice readings we TA : 1.42%, Brix : 19.5 adjusted to 22
I don't have a ph meter. I am not confident of the TA reading of the
finished wine but I am guessing it is around 0.9%.