"Mark L." > wrote in message
om...
> I have a Cab. Franc (20 gals.) and a Zin-Carignane(15 gals) still in
> bulk. The wines taste very low in acid. I have an acid testing kit.
> If I find that the levels are indeed too low, can I add acid blend at
> this time without ruining the wine?

If you intend to adjust acid now, just before bottling, do _not_ use acid
blend. It contains malic acid; a shot of that could start ML fermentation
all over again. Maybe not right away, but after bottling - and that
wouldn't be a good thing.

Add tartaric if you must, but I recommend that you do tasting trials. Be
sure to cold stabilize the wine after the addition (to drop out the excess
bitartrate), but before the tasting trials. The wine will need some time to
recover after you do an acid adjustment.

You'll be amazed at how little acid you can add without the wine tasting too
tart. This is one of the reasons that acid adjustments are always best done
_before_ fermentation.

Tom S