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AN ALTERNATIVE TO CHEMICALS TO BRING ACIDITY AND FRESHNESS TO RED AND WHITE WINES
AN ALTERNATIVE TO CHEMICALS TO BRING ACIDITY AND FRESHNESS TO RED AND WHITE WINES
Publiée le 09/07/2019 17:03
Sensory analysis Grapes & wines analysis

Biodiversity to help reduce the impact of global warming in wine.

Lallemand Oenology just released LAKTIA™, a selection from the Rioja region (Spain) yeast biodiversity able to acidify red and white wines during alcoholic fermentation.

Answering climate change effets with biological solutions

 As we are now all well aware of, global warming is affecting wine-growing and wine grapes. One of the results of climate change is the loss of acidity and freshness in wines which is a real concern to winemakers, especially in warm climate regions. To answer this growing issue, biodiversity is a incredible source of solutions.

Finding new tools able to keep or enhance acidity is a challenge for the wine industry. Lallemand Oenology just released LAKTIA™, a selection from the Rioja (Spain) yeast biodiversity able to acidify red and white wines during alcoholic fermentation.

LAKTIA™ was selected for its high capacity to produce lactic acid (up to 7 g/L). LAKTIA™ uses sugar for lactic acid production and enjoys warmer temperature to multiply.

 

Natural acidification of red and white wine during alcoholic fermentation

 LAKTIA ™, a pure culture of Lachancea thermotolerans, is a natural alternative for acidification.

This selected natural wine yeast is Lallemand latest addition to the non-Saccharomyces portfolio. It was selected for its unique properties to produce high level of lactic acid during fermentation (up to 7g/L). This property makes it a natural alternative to manage the acidity of red and white wines. As with all non-Saccharomyces yeast, LAKTIA™ must be used in sequential inoculation with a selected Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast for white and red winemaking. Additionally to conferring freshness and acidity, LAKTIA™  also enhances aromatic complexity in wines from the beginning of alcoholic fermentation.

Compared with the addition of tartaric acid, LAKTIA ™ shows various benefits

  • Less sharp pH modification (more predictable)
  • No precipitation (better wine pH buffering)
  • Enhances roundness and smoothness of the wine
  • Enhances wine microbiological stability
  • Increases formation of lactic esters like ethyl lactate

 

Wine acidity and freshness significantly improved

 During an organoleptic evaluation carried out on a Merlot wine produced at the INRA Pech Rouge, in France in 2017, wines fermented with Laktia™ together with a Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine yeast showed much higher levels of acidity and freshness than the control wine fermented with the same Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast. The results are simply outstanding with this wine yeast as can be observed in Figure 1.

 

The strong impact of LAKTIA™ was also noted in a trial made on a Tempranillo in 2017 during which the acidity impact was assessed at the end of alcoholic fermentation. The trial was performed on two modalities: the control wine without LAKTIA™ and the same wine with the addition of LAKTIA™.  Whereas malate concentration and volatile acidity were similar, the pH was lower the total acidity was much higher with and so was the L-lactic acid level measured in the wine produced with LAKTIA™.

More information on Lallemandwine.com 

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Winemaking with wine yeast and bacteria