Acidity, pH, and buffering

pH and titratable acidity describe different properties of an acid system.

Buffering helps explain why acid additions do not produce identical pH or sensory changes.

Because pH is logarithmic, a one-unit change does not represent a simple one-unit increase in hydrogen-ion activity. Wine is also buffered, so adding a fixed amount of acid does not guarantee a fixed pH movement. This is why cellar decisions require measurement rather than sensory arithmetic alone.

Tartaric, malic, lactic, acetic, citric, and other acids differ in chemical behaviour and sensory context. Their forms and proportions interact with potassium, buffering, temperature, microbes, and production. Beginner tasting should recognise acidity; laboratory interpretation must ask what kind, how measured, and under which conditions.

Use a published or instructor-provided table of pH and titratable acidity values. Rank the samples first by the numbers, then predict sensory acidity. Compare those predictions with tasting or described outcomes. Any mismatch is not a failed palate—it is evidence that the measurements answer different questions.