Diurnal Range Impact Of Wine Making…
Diurnal shift is the difference between the average daytime high temperature and the average nighttime low temperature.
Large diurnal shift allows grapes to maintain higher acidity.
Wine makers care about diurnal shift because it leads to higher quality wines with more balance.
large diurnal shift => slow ripening + retain acidity => balanced, higher quality wine.
Not only does it lengthen the growing season, but a large diurnal shift also allows the acid in the grapes to stick around. As sugar accumulation slows down overnight, the grapes are able to maintain higher levels of acidity.
This acidity eventually ends up in the finished wine and is one of the key components of balance (along with alcohol, tannin, and sweetness). If any of these components are too low or too high, a wine will be out of balance and the drinker will perceive it as unpleasant or low-quality.
In a region that has very high daytime temperatures during the growing season, there is potential for the grapes to ripen rapidly: accumulate sugar very quickly, acid levels to drop quickly, and the resulting wine to be very high in alcohol with very low levels of acid. An unbalanced, flabby, less-than-pleasurable wine.
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#acidity #grapesripening #balanced #qualitygrapes