Charles,
Make sure you drive off the CO2 from your sample by stirring or shaking
it vigorously until it contains no more pressure. I wont claim to know much
about the wine you are making, but if it was me and the numbers are
confirmed to be as high as you think then I would make an acid reduction
now. I would also add the sugar now rather than let the ferment slow down
before adding it. This will help to keep the ferment strong and the must
protected by CO2. I dont think the other method of sugar addition is
necessarily incorrect though. I am of the opinion that the sooner you make
your adjustments to Acidity the better the wine is likely to turn out. I
will also add that excessive reductions by means of Calcium Carbonate or
similar can and in my experience has led to off tastes. I have heard the
term chalky used to describe it, but in my wine that I did a heavy reduction
on it seemed to take some of the taste with it. Just a cautionary note based
only on my experience. HTH
John Dixon
"Charles H" > wrote in message
...
> Clyde Gill wrote:
>
> > > I hope you mean acid 1.42, not 14.2?
> >
> > Many growers/winemakers express TA in grams per liter.
>
> Either way, my must is pretty acidic... I am going to run a test on it
> when I get home.
>