Yeast, bees and barrels article

[Ned Hoey]

Jancis Robinson posted a summary and link to a study done in New Zealand. Access to the full article
requires a subscription and I didn't make that leap. I like that more is being understood about yeast and it's ways of getting around.

jancis's summary

 

[Steve Edmunds]

French yeast in Kiwi ferments! They'll never hear the end of it!

 

[Ned Hoey]

That's what they get for using barriques.

 

[Sharon Bowman]

This is NWR.

And yet, WR, come to think of it.

 

[jack hott]

I find the whole yeast thing fascinating. In many ways, one is not just cultivating grapes, as much as they are also cultivating yeast strains - or so I thought. Now this study shows how yeast can travel place to place, making a home for themselves wherever it's suitable.

I tend to drink the kool-aid regarding "natural" yeast fermentations, but lately I've taken to using the phrase "spontaneous" instead. Often yeasts seem to traveling winery through a variety of means.

 

[Thor]

For what it's worth, despite both the reputation and a "tradition" to the contrary, a lot of the better Kiwi producers have been making non-inoculated wines for some time now. Not usually their entire portfolio, but a selection thereof. I can vouch for the rather dramatic difference it makes with Marlborough sauvignon blanc, for example, but it's probably more common with pinot noir, there and elsewhere.

 

[VLM]

originally posted by jack hott:
I tend to drink the kool-aid regarding "natural" yeast fermentations, but lately I've taken to using the phrase "spontaneous" instead. Often yeasts seem to traveling winery through a variety of means.

For sure, spontaneous is the better term.