Acidity - Don’t be afraid!

Quite a few wine drinkers have turned the corner on this concept, but I think enough are still put off by the word itself to scribble a few lines about it here…

First off, acidity is a GOOD THING in wine (or at least most of the time, but more on that later). Acidity is what makes a wine have a freshness, a liveliness, a “juiciness”. Wines that lack acidity are called “flabby”, and ones falling into this category are often also said to be “dead”, “flat”, or “dull”.

Acidity’s source is clearly the grapes themselves, and as one might expect, some varieties naturally have higher levels of acidity than others. Some of the most celebratedly acidic red wines are Barbera and Sangiovese from Italy, Cabernet Franc and Carignan from France, and Mencia from Spain. White wines also vary in acidity level, but in general, white wines have higher levels of acidity than reds do, all things being equal. Some of the most widely known acidic white grape varieties are Verdicchio and Vernaccia from Italy, Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc from France, Verdejo from Spain, and Riesling from Germany and Austria.

But no matter the variety, climate still plays a very important role in acidity levels in wine, and the relationship is quite easy to state: the colder the climate, the more acidity one will find in the wines. And the converse is also true: heat reduces acidity in all grape varieties. So with these two general truths established, it won’t take long to realize that certain varieities are planted in certain
places to COUNTERACT the difficulties that growers wrestle with in these regions. For example, the often infernally hot regions in southern Italy have taken to planting their vineyards to a certain percentage of the northern Italian Barbera variety, a grape that no matter how the temperatures may rise, retains a fair level of acidity. Likewise, less naturally acidic varieties like Pinot Noir attain a wonderful freshness when grown in the fairly cold temperatures that characterize Burgundy (and those of you who don’t care for California Pinots might now know why you don’t).

So what about “sour” wine? I think we’ve all had one or two, but what made it so? Well, everyone’s palate is slightly different so for some an exceedingly acidic wine like Muscadet from the western Loire in France might never please some folks. Some people might characterize wines like Muscadet as “sour”, though this is not exactly correct. Within the fairly codified terminology and nomenclature of wine, the word “sour” most often refers to what is more scientifically known as “volitile acidity”. Though there are many types of volitile acidity, acetic acid acid is the most common. Small amounts of acetic acid are normal and even quite palatable in most wines, but higher levels are often due to bacterial infections in the fermentation by such microbes as acetobacter which can indeed make wines taste “vinegary”. Such wines are indeed “sour”, and unquestionably flawed, and simply stems from careless winemaking.

So what’s so good about acidity anyway? Well, other than the primary benefits of a fresh, clean taste that the right acids bring to the party, wines with moderate to high acidity levels enhance the enjoyment of so many different foods. As one eats, fats, carbohydrates, proteins, etc. begin to build up on the diner’s taste buds, and in the mouth in general effecting olfaction (which is where most “tasting” goes on) as well. The acids in wines not only are able to break down and dissolve these compounds, consequently cleansing the palate, leaving all of the its receptors ready to “taste in full” once again, but during the “cleaning” process, the actions of these acids on the food remains in the mouth actually produce rapid chemical reactions with this food, producing a range of tertiary flavors from their interaction. This one of the many reasons why wine goes so well with food…So the next time you hear or read about a wine’s “clean acidity” tremble not, but rather rejoice in the knowledge that acidity is a GREAT trait in a wine, and certainly nothing to be afraid of.

TOM CIOCCO