Home › Glossary › Letter A

Acidification

Viniculture
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The addition of acid to must or wine to sharpen balance and freshness.

Detailed Definition
Acidification adjusts a wine whose natural acidity is too low, especially in warm climates or difficult vintages. As a poetic image, it resembles placing a taut string beneath a loose melody: a measured brightness that gives sweetness shape and keeps fruit from drifting into heaviness. The practice invites verse about correction, restraint, and the small intervention that allows a harvest to speak with greater clarity.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Acidification brought a bright edge to the flat red,” uses the term for adding acid to adjust a wine’s balance; A poet could compare acidification to “squeezing a lemon into a dull afternoon”; “After acidification, the wine speaks in sharper syllables”; The example shows that acidification can make a wine taste fresher without simply making it sweeter.
Additional Notes
Acidification is used when must or wine lacks sufficient natural acidity, often in warm climates. Tartaric acid is commonly added before or during fermentation to improve freshness, pH stability, and microbial protection. Additions must be measured carefully because too much acid makes a wine sharp.
Also Known As
Acid Adjustment Acid Addition Acidulation
Skip to main content