Deacidification of Musts from the Western United States by the Calcium Double-Salt Precipitation Process

Abstract

Musts of high acidity were deacidified by the calcium double-salt (calcium malate-tartrate) precipitation process, with the use of Acidex. Ten lots of white and red musts (eight of Vitis vinifera and two of V. labrusca) were used. Must acidities ranged from 0.96 to 1.68 g/100 ml. By precipitation of the calcium double salt, the acidities were reduced to 0.8 g/100 ml for white musts, and 0.7 g/100 ml for red musts. Although precipitation was not the theoretical exact equimolar amounts of malic acid and tartaric acid, quantitative efficiency of the method of deacidifcation was judged to be good. The problem of calcium tartrate instability was judged to be minimal after storage of the wines for six months.