International Journal of Food Microbiology

Volume 180, 16 June 2014, Pages 56–61

Short communication

Implantation and persistence of yeast inoculum in Pinot noir fermentations at three Canadian wineries

• Jessica N. Lange^a,
• Erin Faasse^a,
• Mansak Tantikachornkiat^a,
• Frida S. Gustafsson^a,
• Liz C. Halvorsen^a,
• Amy Kluftinger^a,
• David Ledderhof^b,
• Daniel M. Durall^{a, ,}

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doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2014.04.003

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Highlights

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We compared implantation/persistence of inoculants among three Canadian wineries.

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Percent implantation/persistence was lowest at Quails Gate and Cedar Creek wineries.

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Low values at Quails Gate were found in 2009 but not in 2011 and 2012.

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Results highlight variability from one vintage to another.

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Results highlight the importance of strain typing to detect low implantation.

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Abstract

Inoculated fermentations are practiced in most wine regions of the world. This type of fermentation involves adding a commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain as an inoculant. It is often assumed that the inoculant maintains dominance throughout the fermentation; however, sometimes commercial or indigenous yeasts, which were not intentionally added, end up as the dominant yeast in the winery fermentation. The aim of this study was to compare implantation/persistence of inoculants among three Canadian wineries (Quails' Gate, Cedar Creek, and Road 13 wineries). In 2010, three inoculated fermentation tanks at each of three wineries were sampled at four stages of fermentation (pre-inoculation, early, mid, and end). In addition, results from the end stage of fermentation, from two of the three wineries, were compared among different vintages (resulting in a 4-year comparison at Quails' Gate winery and a 2-year comparison at Cedar Creek winery). Strains of S. cerevisiae were discriminated by microsatellite analysis and identified using commercial microsatellite databases, whereas DNA sequencing was used to identify non-Saccharomyces. The percent implantation/persistence of the inoculum was significantly lower at Quails' Gate and Cedar Creek wineries as compared with the Road 13 winery in the 2010 vintage. Relatively low persistence of the inoculum at Quails' Gate winery was also found in the 2009 vintage, but low values were not found at Quails' Gate winery in 2011 and 2012 or at Cedar Creek winery in 2012. In all tanks having < 80% relative abundance of the inoculant, the commercial strain (Lalvin ICV-D254®/Fermol® Premier Cru) was the dominant or co-dominant yeast. Our findings highlight year-to-year variation in inoculum implantation/persistence and the idea that unless strain typing of S. cerevisiae is conducted at the winery, there are no obvious fermentation factors that would indicate a relatively low inoculum implantation/persistence.

Keywords

• Saccharomyces cerevisiae;
• Strain typing;
• Microsatellite analysis;
• Winery fermentations;
• Commercial inoculum

Corresponding author. Tel.: + 1 250 807 8759.

Copyright © 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.