"Charles H" > wrote:

> I am concerned with the numbers a bit, since it was a bad year down in
> Niagara, they a Brix: 20.2, pH: 3.22, acid: 14.2.
>
> I suppose acid reduction is in order... I have malo bacteria, I plan on
> innoculating when I press. I'm not sure if this is going to be
> sufficient or not however. I also plan on chapitalizing, and I've read
> conflicting information as when it's best to do this, either now or when
> the must gets down to 1 or 2 degrees brix.

Charles,

I hope you mean acid 1.42, not 14.2?

You may have to use a combination of methods to get the acid down. It's my
understanding that most grapes normally have about 50% tartaric, 25% malic,
and 25% citric. Malolactic fermentation will convert the malic into lactic,
resulting in a halving of the acidity attributable to malic. So, unless the
malic is abnormally high, the best you can expect from malolactic
fermentation would be a reduction of 1.42 x .25 x .5 = .18, whereas you
probably want a reduction of .67 (to get the acid level down to about .75).

If you have the means of testing the malic acid content, you will have a
better idea of what to expect from MLF.

Various means of acid reduction, and heated arguments over their pros and
cons, were recently discussed in the following thread:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...fts.winemaking

The chapitalization will reduce the acid somewhat, since it will increase
the must volume by ~ .645 its weight in grams. Therefore, acid measurement
and adjustment should be done afterwards, not before.

Good luck.