Tartaric acid

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The most important acid (also 2,3-dihydroxysuccinic acid or 2,3-dihydroxybutanedioic acid) in wine with a content of 0.5 to 4 g/l, which is one of the non-volatile acids. Before the discovery of the actual tartaric acid, its salt potassium hydrogen tartrate - the tartar - was thought to be a solid acid, since this precipitates easily in wine due to its poor solubility in water. In the past, this was therefore easier for chemists to recognise than the highly soluble tartaric acid. This was separated from tartar by the chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele (1742-1786) in 1769 and was therefore named tartaric acid by him. After its continuous build-up in the grapes during the ripening period, the proportion no longer decreases, in contrast to malic acid. During prolonged cold weather, tartaric acid can already be precipitated in the grape.

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Tartaric acid

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