The international competitiveness of the wine sector and consumer demands for the unique wine styles pose challenges in improving the fermentation process. The basis of proper alcoholic fermentation is knowledge about how individual yeast strains interact with the aroma, taste and color of wine, what results in possibility to select species used as starter cultures. To use the value of non-Saccharomyces yeast strains in wine production and to minimize the possibility of wine deterioration, it is necessary to precisely recognize the yeast cultures present on the fruit of the vine and in grape must, as well as their metabolic properties. The aim of the study was to determine the oenological properties of yeasts isolated from spontaneously fermented grape musts obtained from cool climate grapes. For this purpose, Zweigelt grape must was fermented with yeast monocultures. Alcohol, extract, sugars, glycerol, total acidity and free amine nitrogen were analyzed in the obtained wines. Poor fermentation properties of yeast strains results in obtaining wines with relatively large amounts of residual sugars and low alcohol. A decrease in overall acidity was noted in sets with the participation of M. pulcherrima MG971264, while in other tests the opposite trend was observed. Although some microorganisms have the ability to assimilate organic acids found in wine, they are not able to carry out fermentation or they do it inefficiently. Solution to this problem may, therefore, be use of mixed cultures of noble and non-Saccharomyces yeast, what effectively reduce the concentration of organic acids, while not adversely affecting the organoleptic characteristics of the drink.
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