Winery region

Fermentation. Today (ca 1997) it is almost universal to inoculate the must with a selected yeast strain. Yeasts are chosen for conducting predictable, prompt, and complete fermentations under the conditions appHcable for the particular wine. It is tme, at least in most wineries, that grapes will ferment with the yeasts naturally present. At one time it was argued that part of the special regional character of wines was the result of the local yeasts. 

Producers have adopted the use selected commercial strains of yeasts and LAB to overcome some of the problems associated with fermentation under the harsh conditions of winter. However, to achieve greater sensory individuality and enhance regional character, there is a trend by producers to select strains isolated from their local grapes and individual wineries (Bovo et al., 2005 Malacrind et al., 2005). 

The largest wineries in California are situated in the Interior Valley, although some comparatively new, large wineries are now established in the coastal regions as well. 

The same chemical principles presented by the speakers on red (p. 59) and white table wine (p. 29) production are applicable to table wine production in the Interior Valley. Differences in the size of the winery operations and grape maturity are attributable to regional climatic conditions. With modern viticultural practices, the grapes grown for winemaking in this interior region now produce quality wines and they also comprise the largest volume of table wines produced in California. 

I do not know of any wineries that use cultures of flor-type yeasts for the alcoholic fermentation. (Strains of yeast that have a film stage after alcoholic fermentation are called flor types.) In our winery, we are very careful to isolate the operations where the flor-type yeasts are used. We also sterilize any residues produced from the flor-type yeasts. We do not want the flor-type yeasts to become indigenous to our region since they may complicate production of table wines. 

Figure 6. Distribution of wineries in the Lake Erie-New York region (23)...

One is the remarkable increase of demand for wine as a food beverage during the past decade, much of it in areas where little or no demand existed previously and no wine was produced. It represents a real change in the American dietary pattern. Such regional demand stimulates curiosity about the regional production potential. Some of that curiosity translates into action. The present broad distribution of small new vineyards and wineries represents just that. Those that prove out successfully become points of further diffusion. 

Wine. There are excellent organic wines produced in New Zealand, with many exported. One winery with many awards to its credit is Richmond Plains, owned by the Holmes Brothers in Nelson province in the South Island. The winegrowers of the region show remarkable co-operation by sharing processing facilities. Their first vintage was in 1995 and they now export to Australia, Japan and the UK. The Richmond Plains collection includes three whites - Sauvignon Blanc, Autumn Harvest and a barrique-fermented Chardonnay, and two reds - Pinot Noir and a Bordeaux style blend named Escapade . 

The causes for the majority of cases of cork taint have been quite thoroughly investigated mostly due to efforts from Australia (38-40) and to a certain degree tom Europe. Although the problem of cork taint poses enormous financial losses upon wineries worldwide, the funding of research efforts in different wine producing regions has been quite variable (Table III). 

Recently, the Italian organic wine sector has dramatically increased. In the last two years, the organic vineyard area has doubled, reaching more than 40,000 hectares, while organic wineries account more than 9,000 farms. In particular, the Veneto Region accounts for 4% of total area and for 15% of organic wine makers. 

In some cases (Figure 1.38), S. cerevisiae populations with a large clonal diversity carry out spontaneous must fermentation. Many strains coexist. Their proportions differ from the start to the end of fermentation and from one winery to another. In the Bordeaux region, this diversity causes slow... 

Vezhinet et al. (1992) and Versavaud et al. (1995) have also studied the clonal diversity of yeast microflora in other vineyards. Their results confirm the polyclonal character of fermentative populations of S. cerevisiae. The notion of dominant strains (one to two per fermentation) is obvious in the work carried out in the Charentes region. As in Champagne and the Loire Valley, some Charentes region strains are found for several years in a row in the same winery. The presence of these dominant strains on the grape has been confirmed before any contact with winery equipment during several harvests. 

Vine-growers in certain viticultural regions (Champagne, for example) are required to follow these strict rules. Small perforated containers, preferably plastic, are used for grape-picking to ensnre grape quality from the first step of the harvest. These containers are stacked on an open trailer and gently emptied at the winery. 

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