What does pH have to do with wine?

What does pH have to do with wine?

Remember pH in high school science class?  I remembered that acids were not as corrosive to skin as bases were.  And that was about it.

Until I got seriously into wine making.  With wines, pH can have a great impact on how a wine tastes, looks and lasts!

Simply stated, the lower the pH in a wine, the more acidic, sharp, or clean a wine will taste.  A wine with a high pH will taste flat or lacking in acidity. 

Here's a question for all you wine trivia buffs out there.  What is the average pH of wine? 

Any guesses? 

It's right around 3.5 or perhaps just a bit lower.  It's this low pH that helps wines be stable in that a low pH tends to naturally inhibit spoilage. 

The pH of a wine affects its color.  Red wines with low pH appear more red while wines with a higher pH have a blue or purple case, even when quite old!

Wine with a high pH will not only lack crispness, but it may also have "off" flavors like a metallic tin can or worse.  Also a high pH wine will contribute to that not-so-great vinegary smell in the wine.

Now you know more than you ever needed to know about wine and pH.  Just wait till you can access that bit of information at just the right time.  Won't you look like a wine superstar!

Mike