New biotechnological tools for traditional sparkling wines

Traditional winemade sparkling wines can be improved by using new biotechnological approaches.
Among them, the use of new lactic acid bacteria (LAB) is possible nowadays to use in co-fermentation with yeasts in base wines.
By using a ‘training’ process of stress induction and adaptation, we have been able to obtain homofermentative LAB adapted to grape must conditions, able to ferment sugars (with lactic acid as the sole end product), that grow and coexist with yeast, and perform rapidly the malolactic fermentation (MLF).
As a result of this, wines are more acidic at the end (even with a complete MLF), fresher, and more floral. Additionally, this avoids de risk of an undesired MLF in bottles.
A second example is the immobilisation of yeasts on oak chips for the second fermentation in bottles, avoiding the use of any adjuvants, that very rapidly sediment. Besides, more complex and equilibrated sparkling wines are produced.