High TA Grapes?
 

Hi all,

I'm new to winemaking from fresh grapes and have a question about what
to look for when sourcing fruit.

I am planning on making a Baco Noir and have contacted a vineyard in
Niagra, Ontario that will sell Baco grapes. Last year the Baco were 22
Brix and 1.18 TA at harvest. This TA seems to be very high IMO. Am I
correct? I've read that generally, grapes for making dry reds should be
at least in the neighbourhood of 0.70 TA. Should I look for another
supplier? And if so, what should I be looking for in grapes to produce
a full bodied red such as a Baco Noir, or possibly a Cab Franc or Cab
Sauv?

Travis

Baco grapes are naturally high in acid...but this is ok, because they
are also very high in tannins and flavour compounds...the higher acid
leads to a better balance for this grape.

If you are starting at 11g/L or so, the finished wine should be around
7 or 8 g/L.

Maybe do an internet search for Henry of Pelham's Baco reserve and see
what thier numbers are--this wine would be a good benchmark to judge
against.

Ah. Thanks for the help.

I checked out the H of P Baco reserve and you're right. Harvest
conditions are 11 g/L TA, 22.4 Brix, and 3.06 pH (for the '99). This
summer has apparently been a record here (been nice and hot all
season), so the grower was predicting this year's crop to be a little
higher Brix than last year's 22 and a little lower TA than last year's
1.18. The final product is 6.7 g/L TA.

So these look like nice grapes to go with. Wish me luck! (I'm sure I'll
have more questions as I get into the process.) Thanks for the reply.

Cheers,
Travis


CJ wrote:
> Baco grapes are naturally high in acid...but this is ok, because they
> are also very high in tannins and flavour compounds...the higher acid
> leads to a better balance for this grape.
>
> If you are starting at 11g/L or so, the finished wine should be around
> 7 or 8 g/L.
>
> Maybe do an internet search for Henry of Pelham's Baco reserve and see
> what thier numbers are--this wine would be a good benchmark to judge
> against.