Yeast in winemaking
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The role of yeast in winemaking is the most important element that distinguishes wine from fruit juice. In the absence of oxygen, yeast converts the sugars of the fruit into alcohol and carbon dioxide
The process of fermentation at work on Pinot noir. As yeast consume the sugar in the must it releases alcohol and carbon dioxide (seen here as the foaming bubbles) as byproducts.
French scientist Louis Pasteur discovered the connection between microscopic yeast and the process of fermentation.
If a Chardonnay has too much "buttery" diacetyl notes, winemakers may add fresh yeast to the wine to consume the diacetyl and reduce it to the more neutral-smelling fusel oil 2,3-butanediol.
The distinctive "aldehydic" notes of Sherry wines are caused by special yeast native to the Jerez wine region.
Muscadet
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Muscadet is a French white wine. It is made at the western end of the Loire Valley, near the city of Nantes in the Pays de la Loire region. It is made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape, often referred
A Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine sur lie wine
Evidence suggests that Louis XIV ordered the plantings of Melon de Bourgogne in the Muscadet region following the devastating frost of 1709 that wiped out many vineyards.
Melon de Bourgogne grapes during flowering.
The process of sur lie aging involves the wine staying in constant contact with the dead yeast cells (known as lees) which appear as sediment at the bottom of a wine barrel (example shown).