Ever Wonder? What Does it Mean for a Wine to be Described as Bright?

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Have you ever heard or read about a wine being described as “Bright?” You may have wondered what this really means. So, let’s take a quick look at “bright” wines.

When someone describes a wine as "bright" they are referring to the fact that it has high acidity.

Wines with high acidity are also described as refreshing, crisp, and zesty on the palate — like biting into a green apple or a lemon. This acidity gives the wine a clean, sharp edge and makes it lively rather than what might be described as soft or heavy.

Bright Wines:

• Usually light to medium body wines

• They have fresh and vibrant flavors

• They will often have tart fruit notes such as green apple, citrus, pineapple, cranberry or sour cheery

• These wines leave your mouth feeling cool on their finish — it feels like it "cleans" your mouth after a sip

• High-acidity wines will actually make your mouth salivate. That’s one of the key ways your body reacts to acidity in general, not just in wine.

  • Acidity in wine triggers your salivary glands, especially under your tongue and along your cheeks, to produce saliva

Here are just a few examples of wines that are high in acidity:

• White Wines

  • Sauvignon Blanc

  • Pinot Grigio

  • Albariño

  • Vermentino

  • Pinot Grigio (a.k.a. Pinot Gris)

• Red Wines

  • Barbera

  • Pinot Noir

  • Sangiovese (a key component in Chianti)

  • Gamay

“Bright” acidic wines are often enjoyed in warm weather but are also a great compliment to many rich and/or fatty foods. Cheers!

Ever Wonder? What Does Total Acidity and pH Mean in a Wine?

Acids are a key component of wine, alongside tannin, alcohol, and sugar. They contribute to the wine’s freshness, act as a preservative, and help keep the microbes in check. Acidity also gives wine its tart and sour taste.

There are two main ways to measure acidity in wine: Total Acidity, which is measured in grams per liter (g/L), and pH (Potential of hydrogen). pH measures the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution, and it’s a dimensionless measure. It’s also important to note that pH is a logarithmic scale, so a wine with a pH of 3 is ten times more acidic than a wine with a pH of 4.

Total acidity is measured in grams of tartaric acid per liter of wine. But, while tartaric acid is the main acid in wine, other like malic acid, citric acid, and lactic acid also be present.

Total acidity tells us how much acid is in the wine, while pH tells us how acidic it tastes.

In general, all wines are acidic. Here are some examples:

• White Wines:

  • pH ranges from 2.5 to 3.5 (lower pH make them taste crisp, bright and fresh)

  • Total Acidity:

    • Low acidity: 4.5 to 5.0 g/L (e.g., Chardonnay)

    • Medium acidity: 5.0 to 6.5 g/L (e.g., Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio)

    • High acidity: 6.5 to 9.0 g/L or more (e.g., Albariño or Riesling)

• Red Wines:

  • pH ranges from 3.5 to 4.5 (higher pH makes them taste softer and rounder)

  • Total Acidity:

    • Low acidity: 4.5 to 5.5 g/L (e.g., Merlot or Zinfandel)

    • Medium acidity: 5.5 to 7.0 g/L (e.g., Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah)

    • High acidity: 7.0 to 8.5 g/L or more (e.g., Pinot Noir or Barbera)

• Sparkling Wines:

  • pH ranges from 3.3 to 3.8

  • Total Acidity: Often in the range of 7.0 to 9.0 g/L

So, in summary, Total Acidity tells us how much acid is in the wine while pH tells us about how the wine will taste and feel in our mouth. Cheers!

Ever Wonder? What Exactly is in Wine?

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We know that wine is a lovely drink made from fermented fruit, but what exactly is in a bottle of wine?

Water

Wine is usually comprised of 80-90% water that is directly extracted from squeezed grapes. In rare instances, water may be added to dilute the wine when the alcohol content (or potential alcohol) and/or phenolics become excessive. However, this practice is quite uncommon.

Alcohol

Between 10% and 15% of wine consists of alcohol, specifically ethyl alcohol (also known as ethanol), which is the primary alcohol component in wine. Other alcohols, such as glycerol and methyl alcohol (also known as methanol), may also be present in wine. Why is alcohol significant in wine? It imparts a “body” and “weight” to the palate, providing a tactile sensation as the wine’s elements linger in the mouth. Ethanol plays a crucial role in your nose as well, as it evaporates rapidly and carries the wine’s aromas up to your olfactory receptors.

Acid

The amount of acid in wine typically ranges between 4 to 8 grams per liter (g/L). To put this in perspective, a bottle of wine is 750 ml or 3/4 of a liter. Thus, a typical bottle of wine has 3-6 gm of acid. This level can vary based on the style of wine, grape variety, and region of production.

Tartaric acid is the most common acid found in wine.

Sugar

Most wines, including common varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Merlot contain less than 4 g/L of residual sugar or less than 3 gm. Glucose and fructose are the two simple sugars that can be found in equal amounts in the grapes. At harvest, grapes typically contain about 15 – 28% sugar. These sugars are highly fermentable, and the yeast converts these sugars into ethanol, making grape juice into wine.

Phenolic Compounds

This gets a bit technical, so hang in there. Phenolic compounds are tiny molecules, called polyphenols and phenolics and they can really make a difference in wine. Some of these compounds include anthocyanins, flavanols, tannins, and vanilla. We know that vanilla aromas and flavors come from oak barrels and tannins come from the skin, stems, and seeds of the grapes. But, the other compounds affect the wine’s color. Anthocyanins are the ones that give red wine its color. The more anthocyanins there are and the less acidic the wine is, the redder it will be. Flavanols are yellow pigments found in white wines. These compounds are sensitive to light, which helps wine look more golden in warmer climates compared to cooler climates.

So, there you have it! Wine is primarily composed of water, along with some alcohol, acids, sugar, and phenolic compounds. When a wine tastes ‘off,’ it’s typically due to an imbalance in these components. Acquiring the right balance is challenging, which is what makes winemaking such a captivating art. Cheers!

The Top Two Most Prominent Acids in Wine - Tartaric and Malic

Last time we looked at acidity levels in wine that are measured on the pH scale and in terms of grams of acid per liter (Total Acidity). While Total Acidity is a measure of the concentration of acids in a wine, the pH level tells you how intense those acids will be.

So, let’s now look a bit more into the acids in wines.

There are four primary types of acids in wines - tartaric acid, malic acid, citric acid, and lactic acid.

“Wine Diamonds” on a Cork

Tartaric acid is the primary acid in wine grapes. But, only about half the tartaric acid in a grape is soluble in wine. The rest tends to attach itself to pulp debris, tannins, and pigments during the fermentation and aging process. And, sometimes that undissolved tartaric acid crystallizes in the wine. That’s what “wine diamonds” are. Those little broken-glass-looking shards you sometimes find on a cork or in your wine. But, don’t worry, they’re completely harmless.

Now, let’s move on to Malic acid which is the second most prominent type of acid in wine grapes. It too is produced as part of the grape growing process. But, Malic acid in grape vines decreases as vines grow older and the grapes ripen.

If malic acid is too high, winemakers can initiate a process called malolactic “fermentation” (MLF) which converts some of the malic acid (like that of a tart green apple) to the more mild lactic acid. This conversion gives a wine a buttery, creamy mouthfeel. You may know lactic acid as the primary acid present in a lot of fermented products, like yogurt, kefir, and sourdough bread.

Malolactic Fermentation is not actually a fermentation. It’s just a chemical process that converts one type of acid to another type of acid. So, it is more correctly a Malolactic Conversion, not a fermentation.

And, while most red wines undergo malolactic conversion, only some white wines, notably Chardonnay, undergo this process.

If you don’t care for highly acidic flavors in wines, try a full-bodied red wine such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or a Syrah. But, if you love a crisp, refreshingly tart flavor, look for light-bodied white wines such as Albariño, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling or a brut sparkling wine.

Acidity Levels in Wine

Acidity in wine is one of the four fundamental traits of a good wine (Acidity, Tannin, Alcohol and Sweetness). For a wine to be considered “good,” each of these traits must be in proper proportion or ‘balance’ to each another. If there’s too much of one part, the wine will be off. And, if there’s not enough of a specific component, the wine will be lacking.

So, the acidity of a wine must play its own fine balancing act. While there are no magic “right” numbers for the level of acidity in a wine, there are generally accepted ideals. But, as usual, personal taste is still the simplest determining factor.

As a quick review, pH is a measure of acidity and is a logarithmic scale. So, a pH of 3 is ten times more acidic than a pH of 4 (the lower the pH the more acidic).

Wines lie on the acidic side of the pH spectrum, and most range from 3 to about 4.5 pH. This is compared with water, which is neutral, with a pH of 7 (not acidic), milk at a pH of 6.7, coffee at 4.5-5.0, and lemonade at 2.6 (very acidic).

Acid is important in wine because it acts biologically as a preservative. A red wine with a pH of 3.5 to 4 protects against most spoilage bacteria allowing it to age over years rather than months and allows it to develop deeper more complex flavors. In white wines there is generally stronger acidity with the pH being between 3.0 to 3.5.

In addition to the pH level of a wine, its “Titratable Acidity” or “Total Acidity” (TA) is another way of measuring acidity. And, this is a measure that usually appears on a wine’s Tech Sheet that is generally available on-line from the winery.

Most red wines will have a total acidity of about 0.6 to 0.7% TA that converts to 6 to 7 grams/Liter (g/L) – that is 6 to 7 grams of acid per liter of wine. A white wine will have a higher TA between 6.5 to 7.5 g/L

• Dry White Wines – 6.5 – 7.5g/L

• Sweet White Wine – 7 – 8.5g/L

• Dry Red Wine – 6 – 7g/L

• Sweet Red Wines – 6.5 – 8g/L

• Sherry – 5 – 6g/L

So, keep those taste buds perked up and see if you can detect an acidic wine (e.g., Sauvignon Blanc) over one that is not (e.g., Viognier), or a wine where the acidity is out of balance with its other components. Cheers!