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Notes From the
Vintner
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Welcome
to our column. We hope that you will return to
learn interesting notes on wine, and related
subjects. Wine is a great gift from God to be used
for the enjoyment of man. It is a food, and should
be treated as such. It is meant to lift up the body
and lighten the soul. 08/1/03
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Things
may not be as they
seem…I
just returned from the vineyard this evening after being
gone for many days. The grapes were now purple in color, not
the green that I had observed days ago. They looked as if
they might be ready to be cut. But, then things may not be
as they seem.
The grapes were of
a nice color, but not a good color. The Ph and sugar were
still down. There has been a lot of hot weather, causing the
grapes to turn.
The true test of
ripeness is not the color, sugar, or acid, BUT the Ph
of the fruit. It is important to harvest at correct Ph. The
Ph meters are not costly for those making a measured amount
of wine. But for the 5 gallon person, it is out of the
question…but finding a person say like a science
teacher is not out of the question. So look around and find
a friend who has an open door to a Ph meter. For white
grapes you should be in the range of 3.20 - 3.30. For red
grapes you should be in a range of 3.30 - 3.40, lower levels
tend to produce a wine that is vegetative in flavor. The
correct range gives a more intense fruit flavor. Higher Ph
levels tend to cause the growth of bacteria and wild yeast.
Do not be tricked into thinking that sugar measures
ripeness…it is Ph.
So you now have
time to find a Ph meter, and you DO have a Brix scale to
check the sugar, RIGHT ??? And the last item needed in "Wine
Making 101" is an acid testing kit. This item costs about
$6.00, and allows you to know the acid in the fruit. For
homework, read a book on wine making. Your wine will be your
test. Do the science, enjoy the art.
So now you know what is
important.
You do not have to think that the fruit is ripe; you can
know that it is from the tests that you conduct. Now you are
a smarter winemaker, and I bet a dryer one also…Lets,
have a glass, shall we….And we shall know how things
really are, not how they seem!
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