24 Feb 2010 --- Promising results are starting to kick in after Chr. Hansen’s launch of the innovative wine yeast PRELUDE in August. The launch now continues in the Southern hemisphere.

Rounder mouth-feel, distinct aromas, and increased overall complexity. This is what a number of winemakers in the Northern hemisphere have achieved in their wines after using PRELUDE, which global ingredients supplier Chr. Hansen launched in August 2009.

Now the innovative product launches in Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa for the vintage 2010.

Truly innovative

“This is the first time a pure Torulaspora delbrueckii species is proposed to winemakers as an oenological product.

PRELUDE is a premium ‘wild yeast’ product representing a major step forward for wine-making, because it offers demanding winemakers a way to achieve alcoholic fermentation with the benefits of spontaneous fermentation, but with none of the risks such as fermentation deviation or stuck ferments,” explains Laurent Hubert, Marketing Director, Chr. Hansen.

Benefits to both winemakers and consumers

The controlled management of both alcoholic and malolactic fermentation helps winemakers to control the microflora of their wines. This is due to a synergistic effect between Torulaspora and other yeasts used for alcoholic fermentation management or wine cultures used to achieve the malolactic fermentation. As a result, first grape juice and then wine is naturally protected by positive micro-organisms.

This means that wine quality is optimized and sulphite levels can be kept to a minimum. Owing to the benefits of this ‘bio-protection’ the wines are better and healthier for the consumers, and winemakers can get closer to the ideal: Natural products and closer-to-nature production processes.

A new era in winemaking

“We believe that this is the beginning of a new era in winemaking, using several species of yeasts, and their synergies, to manage the alcoholic fermentation and increase the wine quality and value,” states Hubert.

Noticeable differences with PRELUDE

“We have gathered our customers’ first feedback and tasted their finished wines, and they are all positive about the value added by PRELUDE to their wines,” says Laurent Hubert.

Over the past 18 months four main types of wines have been tested with PRELUDE.

The result is that each wine had a clear, noticeable rounder mouth-feel and depending on the application, additional features were observed by wine experts:

* with Chardonnay for sparkling wines: Fresh tropical fruits flavors with a hint of nuts giving wines a distinct touch;
* with Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc for still wines: A note of well ripen tropical fruits wrapped with subtle caramel giving the wine an immediate ‘classy’ status;
* with Rosé from Cabernet-Sauvignon and reds from Merlot, Grenache and Tempranillo: A new dimension in flavor complexity with wild berries notes and caramel moving the wine immediately in the ‘high end’ category