Hang Time and Aging

[Thomas]

IK, those acid figures you gave could not be correct.

"total acidity for an ager should be in the 3.40 to 3.60 range."

You couldn't drink a wine with that level of acidity. They look like pH numbers to me.

One thing that might be driving the trend toward these kinds of wines is the need to haev more rather than to be happy with something as it is--a fine wine that gives pleasure and pairs with a meal doesn't seem to be enough for a lot of wine geeks. They want every wine to seem orgasmic. Of course, as soon as a wine supplies that need, the next wine has to offer more.

One reason I believe those big wines have trouble aging is because they've just about already aged as near raisins on the vine. Sure, sugars, acids, and pH can be played with, but that is yet another reason behind poor aging. The more you play with a wine, the more it means you've got something unstable to begin with.

Incidentally, to raise pH you lower total acidity--conversely, to lower pH you raise acidity. The balance between the two is critical but alcohol often lends a hand. Hence, high alcohol in those blockbusters quite often is alongside high pH. To me, that is a beat up wine.