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Indices of sugar—acidity as ripeness criteria for winegrapes
Author(s) -
Coombe Bryan G.,
Dundon Robert J.,
Short Andrew W. S.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740310512
Subject(s) - ripeness , brix , titratable acid , wine , sugar , wine tasting , chemistry , food science , mathematics , ripening
Requirements for ripeness criteria of grapes for the making of dry table wine are considered, using measurements of sugar and acidity. The performance of indices was assessed by using averages of ‘optimum’ values of musts for top‐quality dry‐white and dry‐red table wines obtained from a survey of prominent South Australian wine‐makers. The defects of the ºBrix: titratable acidity ratio point to the need for an index which combines ºBrix and pH. ºBrix × pH leads to a large spread of pH values at extremes of ºBrix, while Brix:H+ gives an unrealistically narrow pH range. Brix × pH 2 appears to be an acceptable compromise.