Acid is probably the most important component of wine that a casual drinker doesn’t know about. It is very important to balance the wine, as a natural preservative, and helps the wine to improve in bottle. Here are some basic concepts that help you to understand more about the acidity in wines. 

Where does the acidity come from?

All grapes naturally contain some amount of acid. There are some grape varieties that naturally have higher acidity than the others. Thus, their wines will be more acidic too, or we may hear the others describing the wines as fresh, bright, zesty, crisp or tangy. 

The following is the acidity level of the common grape varieties. While there is also another important factor that affects the acidity level. The warmer the growing conditions, the lower acidity level, while the cooler growing conditions, the higher acidity level.

Although the acidity levels may change during the winemaking process, most of the winemakers will keep the typical style of the grape and the style of the region.

How do we sense the acidity in wines?

The acidity in wines is not just simply giving us a sour taste. In fact, a lot of good quality high acidity wine doesn't taste sour. The acidity can be well-integrated into the wine, hidden by the flavours or the sweetness of the wine. What we need to do is focus on the mouth-watering impact when we taste wine. The more mouth-watering, the higher acidity. 

After tasting several wines, you’ll create a benchmark of acidity and start to notice some wines that are usually high in acidity, like Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon.

How to do food and wine pairing regarding acidity?

Acid is a flavour enhancer, which helps to match with most of the food. Normally, we want the acid level of the wine to be similar or greater than the acid in the food. Because if the food is more acidic than the wine, it can make the wine taste flat and flabby. That’s why usually, fresh dishes like salad, which are seasoned with lemon juice, will pair with high acidity wines like Sauvignon Blanc.

Everyone has their own preference about the feeling of acidity. Hopefully this helps you to understand more about wine and select wines for different occasions.