{"id":3906,"date":"2020-10-19T08:03:38","date_gmt":"2020-10-19T12:03:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wtso.com\/blog\/?p=3906"},"modified":"2020-10-19T09:04:09","modified_gmt":"2020-10-19T13:04:09","slug":"how-a-wines-acidity-affects-its-flavor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wtso.com\/blog\/how-a-wines-acidity-affects-its-flavor\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Wine\u2019s Acidity Affects Its Flavor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ever gone to a wine tasting or read the label on a bottle and questioned what they meant by acidity? When you look at it from a distance, nobody would want <\/em>acidity in their wine, right? Well actually, \u201cacids\u201d are among the best ways to enhance or refine flavor\u2014whether in a bottle of wine or the food on your plate.<\/p>\n

The acidic components in wine can get complex, but there\u2019s a simple way to think about it. Our mouths react instinctively to the acidity levels in a bottle of wine. For example, if you hold your mouth open right after you take a sip and swallow and, consequently, begin salivating, then your mouth is reacting to the acid. Therefore, the more saliva you produce, the more acid there is within the wine. So, apart from that, how does a wine\u2019s acidity affect its flavor? Below, we\u2019ll delve into what you need to know about the role acid plays in wine\u2014read on!<\/p>\n

The pH Scale<\/h2>\n

Acids are one of four fundamental aspects in wine, along with tannin, sweetness, and alcohol. When you get a tart and sour wine, that comes from the acidic spectrum of the wine. That acidic nature comes from where wine lies on the pH scale. Fundamentally speaking, all the wine we drink lies on the \u201cacidic\u201d side of the pH spectrum (about 2.5 to 4.5 pH).<\/p>\n

Think about it in terms of lemons. The more acidic and sour the lemon, the more it makes your mouth water and pucker. The same goes for wine\u2014and of this makes you want to drink more.<\/p>\n

How Does It Taste in Your Wine?<\/h2>\n

So, when it comes to how a wine\u2019s acidity affects its flavor, you have to think about mouthfeel. A wine with a higher acidity (lower pH number) will taste crisper and tarter on your palate. A wine with a lower acidity will taste richer and rounder on your palate.<\/p>\n

As for older wines, you\u2019ll want to grab one with a higher acidity. It provides the backbone needed for long-term aging, since oxidation and other unstable components will have less of an impact. When a wine has less acidity, then it\u2019s more prone to contamination. Winemakers will add in more sulfites to protect the wine from things like oxidation, but they have to think about balance. Too much sulfur can lead to flavors similar to rotten eggs and overcooked cabbage.<\/p>\n

So, what does it taste like in your wine? As we stated, you\u2019ll get that crisper taste and a high acidity that is paired with sweetness; this means that you might not notice that mouth-puckering feel. The next time you sip on wine, pay attention to the puckering and salivation afterward. The more you pay attention to it, the sooner you\u2019ll recognize acidity in your wine.<\/p>\n

WTSO Tastings<\/h2>\n

Need a variety of bottles to broaden up your wine-tasting world? Turn to Wines \u2018Til Sold Out<\/a> for different styles of wine<\/a>. With these, you\u2019ll recognize the role acidity plays in various wine bottles. Check out our value wines<\/a> to see what you can experience. Shop now!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever gone to a wine tasting or read the label on a bottle and questioned what they meant by acidity? When you look at it from a distance, nobody would want acidity in their wine, right? Well actually, \u201cacids\u201d are among the best ways to enhance or refine flavor\u2014whether in a bottle of wine or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":3907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[336],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wine-learning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wtso.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wtso.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wtso.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wtso.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wtso.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3906"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wtso.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3908,"href":"https:\/\/www.wtso.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3906\/revisions\/3908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wtso.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wtso.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wtso.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wtso.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}