Six months ago I fermented 300 litres of cab. and added during fermentation
too much tartaric. The result was battery acid! I now intend to add calcium
carbonate to reduce the acid level. The addition will be 2.2grms per litre
as the TA is currently 10.2 grm/ltr. and Ph2.9. ( I really stuffed up this
time). Question is , what method of addition is appropriate i.e. Direct
addition of powder, or dissolved in sample of wine before addition etc. ??
Thanks in advance
Leon

Jason wrote:

> Question is , what method of addition is appropriate i.e. Direct
> addition of powder, or dissolved in sample of wine before addition etc. ??

The most recommended procedure is to add all of the chalk to a smaller
quantity, stir and react all the chalk and then add this back to the
rest of the wine.

The winecalc <http://www.geocities.com/mipeman/winecalc.html> can
calculate acid reduction as well, so if you want to double check your
numbers this is a good way (not that I'm saying your numbers are wrong
though


--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields

Jason (Leon?) wrote, concerning calcium carbonate, "The addition will be
2.2grms per litre
as the TA is currently 10.2 grm/ltr. and Ph2.9. what method of addition is
appropriate i.e. Direct
addition of powder, or dissolved in sample of wine before addition etc."

Leon - before you add carbonate you might want to estimate how much tartaric
acid will drop out of the wine with cold conditioning. Use several small
samples. Add some potassium bitartrate (cream-of-tartar) to half of the
samples. Store a set of samples in the frig. for a day or two (mix these
several times). Store another set of samples in the freezer. Then, thaw
the freezer samples and retest for acid content. You may find a substantial
reduction in %TA with the cold treatment.

Also, you probably should test a sample with the amount of carbonate you
intend to add to the bulk wine, degass and retest for %TA and pH.

For the bulk wine I transfer to a large container (lots of gas will be
released). I add the carbonate directly to the wine in increments with
stirring. Make sure the wine is at room temperature (the reaction will be
faster and will have a better chance to go to completion). Position a pH
meter probe in the wine. Stop when pH rises to a desired point so you don't
overshoot. If pH seems OK add all the carbonate salt that your experiments
show is needed.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas

"Jason" > wrote in message
...
> Six months ago I fermented 300 litres of cab. and added during
fermentation
> too much tartaric. The result was battery acid! I now intend to add
calcium
> carbonate to reduce the acid level. The addition will be 2.2grms per litre
> as the TA is currently 10.2 grm/ltr. and Ph2.9. ( I really stuffed up this
> time). Question is , what method of addition is appropriate i.e. Direct
> addition of powder, or dissolved in sample of wine before addition etc. ??

I strongly recommend that you not use calcium carbonate for deacidification
of your wine. Use potassium carbonate instead. The calcium salt will
likely leave your wine with a "chalky" taste. Potassium carbonate will not
be detectable afterward in the finished wine once you chill the excess
bitartrate out.

Also, be sure to try whatever you end up doing on a _small_ volume of the
wine first as a reality check. Then when you're satisfied with that scale
it up for the entire lot. Watch out for those decimal errors, too! :^/

Tom S

Thankyou all for your valued input.

Leon

"Tom S" > wrote in message
news
>
> "Jason" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Six months ago I fermented 300 litres of cab. and added during
> fermentation
> > too much tartaric. The result was battery acid! I now intend to add
> calcium
> > carbonate to reduce the acid level. The addition will be 2.2grms per
litre
> > as the TA is currently 10.2 grm/ltr. and Ph2.9. ( I really stuffed up
this
> > time). Question is , what method of addition is appropriate i.e. Direct
> > addition of powder, or dissolved in sample of wine before addition etc.
??
>
> I strongly recommend that you not use calcium carbonate for
deacidification
> of your wine. Use potassium carbonate instead. The calcium salt will
> likely leave your wine with a "chalky" taste. Potassium carbonate will
not
> be detectable afterward in the finished wine once you chill the excess
> bitartrate out.
>
> Also, be sure to try whatever you end up doing on a _small_ volume of the
> wine first as a reality check. Then when you're satisfied with that scale
> it up for the entire lot. Watch out for those decimal errors, too! :^/
>
> Tom S
>
>

Leon,
If you can chill a sample first, I would do that before anything else.
A lot of that tartaric may come right out. If you have already done
that, it's best to do a double salt and pull 1/3 of the total wine to
be deacidified, adding all to it. It eats the tartaric first then
eats some malic if all of the tartaric is gone. That way you will not
end up with a high pH malic dominant wine.

That is a whole lot of calcium carbonate, are you sure that is
necessary? I would really try chilling first, as cold as you can get
it. A fridge is 40 F; 28 is better. That is twice what I would want
to use. Potassium Bicarbonate is another option too.

Whatever you do, do it on a sample first.

Regards,
Joe

"Jason" > wrote in message >...
> Six months ago I fermented 300 litres of cab. and added during fermentation
> too much tartaric. The result was battery acid! I now intend to add calcium
> carbonate to reduce the acid level. The addition will be 2.2grms per litre
> as the TA is currently 10.2 grm/ltr. and Ph2.9. ( I really stuffed up this
> time). Question is , what method of addition is appropriate i.e. Direct
> addition of powder, or dissolved in sample of wine before addition etc. ??
> Thanks in advance
> Leon