Does the Temperature of the prise de mousse Affect the Effervescence and the Foam of Sparkling Wines?

Comparison of ancestral and traditional methods for elaborating sparkling wines

This work compares the ancestral method for elaborating sparkling wines with the most widely used traditional method. Ancestral method is a single fermentation procedure in which the fermenting grape must is bottled before the end of alcoholic fermentation whereas traditional method involves a second fermentation of a base wine inside a bottle. Macabeo grapes were used to elaborate a traditional sparkling wine and two ancestral sparkling wines, one with a low yeast population and one with a high yeast population. The findings indicate that ancestral sparkling wines have lower ethanol content and can be elaborated using lower sulphur dioxide levels. In general, ancestral sparkling wines showed similar protein concentration, higher polysaccharide content, similar or better foamability (HM) than the traditional sparkling wine., No differences were found in the foam stability (HS). In addition, the sensory analysis indicated that ancestral sparkling wines have smaller bubble size, lower CO2 aggressivity, they seemed to have longer ageing time and were scored better than the traditional sparkling wine. These results therefore indicate that the ancestral method is of great interest for the elaboration of high-quality sparkling wines.

Microbial Resources and Sparkling Wine Differentiation: State of the Arts

Consumers’ increasing interest in sparkling wine has enhanced the global market’s demand. The pro-technological yeasts strains selected for the formulation of microbial starter cultures are a fundamental parameter for exalting the quality and safety of the final product. Nowadays, the management of the employed microbial resource is highly requested by stakeholders, because of the increasing economic importance of this oenological sector. Here, we report an overview of the production processes of sparkling wine and the main characterisation criteria to select Saccharomyces and non-Saccharomyces strains appropriate for the preparation of commercial starter cultures dedicated to the primary and, in particular, the secondary fermentation of sparkling wines. We also focused on the possible uses of selected indigenous strains to improve the unique traits of sparkling wines from particular productive areas. In summary, the sparkling wine industry will get an important advantage from the management of autochthonous microbial resources associated with vineyard/wine microbial diversity.