How to Eliminate Volatile Acidity From Wine
Wines with high volatile acidity are generally considered undesirable because of their pungent, sour taste. Although unfavorable grape harvests can yield wine with high volatile acidity, the problem actually arises during fermentation. Certain microbes present in wine can generate an excess of acid during the aging process. Bacteria that metabolize alcohol and convert it into acetic acid (like Acetobacter aceti, A. pasteurianus, and Gluconobacter oxydans) are major contributors to volatile acidity.
Volatile acidity is measured in mg per liter. The US legal limit for white wine is 1,200 mg/L and 1,100 mg/L for red wine. Volatile acidity can be neutralized by reverse osmosis. But since most wine drinkers cannot reproduce this complex process at home, they can improve the taste of a high VA wine by combining it with a low VA wine. A visual math tool known as the Pearson Square can be used to formulate wine blend with a targeted VA.
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Things You'll Need
- High VA wine (1,200 mg/L or greater)
- Low VA wine (less than 200 mg/L)
- Pearson square
Instructions
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Come up with a targeted volatile acidity for your wine blend. For instance, if you have a have a high VA wine of 1,200 mg/L and a low VA wine of 200 mg/L, consider making a blend that has a VA of 400 mg/L.
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Divide the values of the VA content you're working with by 100. In this case, we will reduce 1,200 to 12, 200 to 2 and 400 to 4.
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Fill out a Pearson square. A represents the value of the high VA wine (12), D represents the value of the low VA wine (2) and C represents the targeted value of the blended wine (4). Find a link to a sample Pearson square in Resources.
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Do simple subtraction to determine the values of B and E. B is the difference between D and C and E is the difference between A and C. All answers are absolute value and no negative numbers are used.
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According to our example, E is 8 and 2 is B. As a result, the Pearson square calls for a combination of 2 parts 1200mg/L VA wine with 8 parts 200mg/L wine to produce a blend that has 400 mg/L VA.
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Tips & Warnings
Always blend wines that are the same type (a red with a red, a white with a white) and originate from the same year.
The aroma threshold for volatile acidity can vary from wine to wine, and it largely depends on variety and style. A new dry white wine can have a volatile acidity of up to 3000 mg/L, even though it may not taste overtly sour.
Sometimes vintners deliberately induce volatile acidity to produce wine with a more complex, nuanced taste. For instance, volatile acidity is a signature flaw of the much celebrated 1947 Cheval Blanc.
The microbial activity of acetic acid bacteria is central to converting wine into vinegar. As a result, wines with high levels of acetic acid are considered to be spoiled by "vinegar taint."
