Wine testing lab recommendations?

  • David Hicks
    Moderator

    There are a number of labs all around the Bay Area.  I use Enartis in St Helena with great success.  They have other locations throughout the greater area that may be more convenient for you but you can also overnight send your samples to any lab.

    All labs perform the full array of testing both vit and eno.  But if you haven’t already I suggest  purchased a basic kit do so and don’t stint on quality. Testing labs panels will second your results as well as give you the results of test you cannot do.   The things to never stint on are:  testing tools, grape quality, corks and seals, and barrels.    David Hicks

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  • Jessica McDowell
    Participant

    Hi Darek,

    There are some really great labs in Napa but some are limited to the panels they run. What are you looking to validate? If it’s a simple panel such as SO2(free and total), TA, pH, VA, RS, ethanol, you can use a small lab. You can look up MyEnologist labs for this. I’m not sure if they offer this service as a one time package but it’s worth giving them a ring!
    -Jess

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  • Bill Pence
    Participant

    Darek:

    ETS labs in St. Helena…..state of the art……

    …Bill Pence—Tarabrook Winery (bonded), Orinda, CA

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  • Peter Clark
    Participant

    T really liked Chem 1 in college — 6 hours of lab per week. So I’m curious — what do you use your results for? Ethanol for the label, but what else? Wine has been made out of our grapes 2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019, No 2020 — but I’m still pretty much a greenhorn.
    Peter Clark — Soares Lane Vineyard

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  • Hi Peter.  Assuming from your comments that someone else has been  making wine from your grapes?  The chemistry of wine is one of the most important factors after grape quality and sanitation of the winemaking environment.  The basics are PH, i.e. acidity, and TA, titratable acidity among others.  If those two are not in balance within acceptable guidelines the wine will fall apart.  The best way to achieve good results is in the field growing the grapes,  but all winemakers use these two and many other Chem results to shepherd their wines to completion.  If you would care to learn more I suggest buying “Grapes into Wine” by Sheldon Warrick as one of the best and easiest to understand winemaking books.  As the Covid plague subsides the board is planning educational and training sessions with guest speakers on this and other subjects.  In the meantime some self education is a good start.

    P.S.  Alcohol levels while interesting is not something home winemakers pay much attention.

    David Hicks

      - David Hicks
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  • Darek and Ewa Wojnar
    Participant

    Thank you all for your responses.  We will seek to have basic panels done, ethanol for the label and also to calibrate accuracy of our own measurements (pH, TA, Free SO2 and Total SO2.)  Most labs seem to include  Lactic and Malic Acid testing in their respective packages, so these will be nice additions for us.  Appreciate all suggestions and pointers!

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