1. Wine Composition And Chemistry Flashcards
What are the five main components of wine (in order)?
Water
Alcohol
Acid
Sugar
Phenolic Compounds
What percentage of wine is water? (Approximately)
Wine is typically 80-90% water.
What percentage of a wine is typically made up of alcohol?
Alcohol is typically 10-15% of the wine.
What is the main type of alcohol found in wine?
Ethanol or Ethyl Alcohol
What is Ethanol?
Ethanol - also referred to as Ethyl alcohol - is the main type of alcohol found in wine. It is a byproduct of fermentation.
What is the basic relationship between the “body” of a wine and the level of alcohol in the wine?
Typically, the higher the % of alcohol, the more full the body of the wine.
What percentage of a wine is typically comprised of Acids?
Typically 0.5% to 0.75% of the wine is made up by acids.
Tartaric acid is the most prevalent of acids in wine.
How is tartaric acid different from malic acid or citric acid?
1) There is more tartaric acid in a wine than malic or citric acid
2) Tartaric acid is higher in pH than malic or citric acid.
In what type of climate are you more likely to have grapes with high malic acid?
Cooler climates.
The level of malic acid decreases during the ripening process.
Wines from grapes grown in warmer climates tend to have ______ malic acid than those grown in cooler climates.
Less malic acid
Which is more prevalent in grapes, citric acid or tartaric acid?
Tartaric acid
Citric acid exists only in minute qualities. It is undetectable without specialized equipment.
Which type of acid is more acidic? Malic acid or lactic acid?
Malic acid
Which type of acid is more acidic? Malic acid or lactic acid?
Malic acid
Which four types of acids are found in grapes? Which three types of are created during fermentation?
Found in grapes:
Tartaric, Malic, Citric, Succinic
Created during fermentation:
Lactic, Acetic, Succinic
What does TA measure?
The total acidity of the wine (acids by volume).
What does pH measure?
The combined chemical strength of the acids.
The lower the pH, the stronger the acid level.
What is the typical pH of a wine?
2.9 - 3.9
The lower the pH, the more acidic the wine.
What percentage of ripe grapes is made up by sugar?
Grapes typically contain 15-28% sugar at harvest.