Impact of mixed S. cerevisiae strains on the production of volatiles and estimated sensory profiles of Chardonnay wines

article i nfo Article history: Received 2 March 2012 Accepted 11 June 2012 The global wine industry is mostly reliant on the use of active dry yeasts to conduct wine fermentations. The use of single industrial yeasts, however, may result in the loss of complexity or uniqueness of the wine bouquet; the option of fermenting grape musts with multiple active dried yeast strains could enhance the complexity and quality of wines. Two novel Burgundian Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains (C2,C6) were compared withsix indus- trial yeaststrainsforfermentationofChardonnaymust.The volatilecompoundsinthewineswereidentifiedand quantified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The concentrations of 18 volatile compounds (higher alcohols, ethyl esters, acetate esters, acetaldehyde, acetic acid) were compared using analysis of variance and radar diagrams. The concentration of volatile compounds in wines produced by industrial and Burgundian strains differed significantly. Principal component analyses of the volatile compounds (higher alcohols, ethyl es- ters,acetate esters)inthe winesrevealedthatfermentationswithindividual andmixed Burgundian strainswere more similar to one another than wines fermented with industrial strains. Calculation of odor active values (OAVs) allowed estimation of the sensory impact of each volatile compound. Radar diagrams of the OAVs re- vealed the estimated sensory profiles of the wine produced by industrial and Burgundian (individual, mixed) strains. The most distinguishing trait of the mixed novel Burgundian yeast strains was that they produced inter- mediate concentrations of most volatile compounds and that production of fruity aromas such as sweet fruit, strawberry, green apple, pear and banana were above the sensory threshold, while the production of nail polish, waxy,balsamicandvinegarwerebelowthehumanperceptionthreshold.The mixedculture of Burgundianyeast strains produced wines that were unique and more complex than wines produced with single industrial yeast strains.