Yeast of a Different Breed than setting out to prove or disprove something. To quote Frank Herbert, “Highly organized research is guaranteed to produce nothing new.” This is precisely why we need independent research, access to published research, why it is so important that research is more useful when it is open, and why we have to maintain at least a moderate degree of skepticism about any research that seems to be designed to sell something. One can never be sure that the results are not influenced by the researcher’s own cognitive biases, even when there is no intent to deceive. As a result, I tend to be hesitant to accord too much weight to industry research if it directly relates to a product produced or sold by the company conducting the research. This is also why, as a general rule, I am reluctant publish articles or research that originates in the industry in the pages of Wine Business Monthly. I will break this rule on occasion if I feel the content merits it. Despite the obvious goal of pushing a particular product, the following article from Chr. Hansen provides a useful introduction to using non-Saccharomyces yeast strains in conjunction with Saccharomyces cerevisiae and is worthy of discussion. This is not because I’m a booster of the particular product (Chr. Hansen Concerto). Several of Chr. Hansen’s competitors offer non-Saccharomyces yeast. The article does note why Chr. Hansen thinks their use of Lachancea thermotolerans (AKA Kluyveromyces thermotolerans) is the better option than either Torulaspora delbrueckii or Pichia kluyveri. In particular, L. thermotolerans has potential to produce lower alcohol wines which by itself is a compelling reason to consider its use, but readers should be aware that Concerto and L. thermotolerans is not the only option out there. I am including the article below in WBM because the research presented provides a useful framework for considering winery trials with any of the commercially available non-Saccharomyces yeast strains.
Improving Wine Quality Through the Application of Non-Saccharomyces Yeast Novel applications of lactic acid production by Lachancea thermotolerans (Kluyveromyces thermotolerans) Dr. Hentie Swieger, N Edwards, SG Saerens and K Bjerre Chr. Hansen, Cultures & Enzymes Division, Bøge Allé 10-12, DK-2970 Hørsholm, Denmark
Non-Saccharomyces yeast have been part of winemaking for more than 7,000 years. A large number of genera can be found such as Torulaspora, Kloeckera, Lachancea, Pichia, Candida, Metchnikowia, Schizosaccharomyces, Debaryomyces, Brettanomyces, to list only a few (Jolly et al. 2013). During a spontaneous/natural wine fermentation, the non-Saccharomyces yeast proliferates in the first few days followed by the proliferation of Saccharomyces yeast, the latter finally dominating the fermentation. Therefore, in a natural fermentation, non-Saccharomyces yeast have a significant metabolic influence on the fermentation and subsequent final quality of the wine. However, since the advent of pure inoculums of active dried Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine yeast in the late 1950s, the influence of non-Saccharomyces yeast on modern winemaking has diminished significantly. This is due to the fact that S. cerevisiae wine yeast are inoculated in a high concentration, usually 1 x 106 cfu/ ml in the juice/grapes, thereby dominating the wine fermentation from the 20 August 2016 WBM