Wine Chemistry

pH, Total Acidity (TA) and wine:

pH and acidity are important properties of wine, and accurate measured results for both are needed to make intelligent decisions during wine production.

Low pH has several important effects, which include making sulphur dioxide more effective as an antimicrobial agent, inhibiting bacterial growth and improving the taste. A final pH of about 3.4 - 3.5 generally provides the most balanced flavour for red wines; optimal pH for white wines is slightly lower.

Because wine contains a mixture of acids (mainly tartaric, plus some malic, citric and lactic), each with different pKas, pH alone cannot express the acidity of wine. For this reason, titratable acidity (TA) is also measured. TA is calculated from the amount of NaOH standard required to titrate 10mL of wine to a pre-determined pH (usually 8.2), after first removing carbonic acid which may also be present. TA represents the amount of acid (usually expressed as tartaric acid) that is present in the wine. Target values for TA are in the range 7 - 12 g/L. Measured TA values are especially important before making pH adjustments to wine during production.

Sirius Vinotrate instrument offers a complete solution for fast, accurate and reproducible measurement of pH and TA.

Latest news

Sirius appointed as distributors for Kibron Delta-8

24.7.08

Sirius are now the exclusive distributors in UK, USA and Canada for the Kibron Delta-8 system for measurement of surface tension and phospholipidosis.

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Cambridge scientists set solubility challenge

11.8.08

A new paper from scientists using Sirius solubility techniques at the University of Cambridge asks "can you predict solubilities of 32 molecules using a database of 100 reliable measurements?".

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Coming events

BPC 2008

09.9.08

John Comer from Sirius is giving a presentation on solubility and supersaturation, and their effects on predicting oral absorption.

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AAPS Annual Meeting

16.11.08

Sirius will have a booth at this years AAPS Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

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