🍷 Citric acid

Citric acid is one of the acids found in grapes. There is little of it in the berries: the main grape acids are tartaric and malic, and citric acid is usually only a small fraction of a percent. A small amount is also formed during fermentation.

Sometimes it is added to wine. In the EU it may be used only to stabilise wine against clouding, within a legal limit; to raise acidity winemakers use other acids, mainly tartaric. Rules in other countries differ.

Citric acid belongs to the acids and is part of the total acidity of wine. Acidity gives wine freshness; without it the taste would be limp and flat. Citric acid is familiar from citrus fruit, but in wine its role is modest. The winemaker watches acidity by measuring it in the lab and by tasting. The right balance of acid and sugar is one of the foundations of good wine.