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Wine Deacidification

The effectiveness of seed crystals to reduce acidity is being evaluated in La Crescent, Frontenac, and Frontenac gris in a study at Cornell University.

photo: Chris Gerling

One of the challenges in making wine from cold-hardy cultivars is the high acid levels in the grapes.  Therefore, one of the objectives for the Northern Grapes Project Enology Team is to optimize deacidification methods for these cultivars, which has been a focal point in their research projects and outreach activities.

As harvest is either underway or complete in most of the cold-climate states, now is a good time to review deacidification strategies.  Two Northern Grapes Project webinars (Managing Acidity in the Wineryand Malolactic Fermentation) and two newsletter articles (Necessary Evil: Chemical Deacidification for High Acid Wineand Using Selected Yeast Strains to Reduce Wine Total Acidity) have focused on this topic.

 

Additional Resources:

 

Practical Considerations for Managing Wine Acidity by Ellen Butz.

 

Managing High Acidity in Grape Must and Wine by Jim Harbertson and Thomas Henick-Kling.