Due to the importance of tartaric acid in the composition and quality of wines, this work aimed to determine its concentration in wines from the highlands in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. A total of 288 samples of the red wines Isabella, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot and of the white wines Chardonnay, Italic Riesling and White Muscat were analysed by HPLC. Results showed that the average concentration of tartaric acid in Isabella (5.0g L-1) was significantly higher than in other wines; the concentration of the tartaric acid in Italic Riesling (3.1g L-1) wine was similar to the Chardonnay (2.6g L-1) but significantly higher than the concentrations found in the wines of Cabernet Sauvignon (2.2g L-1), Cabernet Franc (2.3g L-1), Merlot (2.4g L-1) and White Muscat (2.2g L-1).
wine; chemical composition; tartaric acid
