Take a Walk on the Wild Side

How yeast influences your wine

I was a bit slow on the sour dough trend during our covid lockdown. My daughter Taylor’s then-girlfriend was living here last spring and her effort failed. Not sure what happened but she killed those little suckers that were suppose to spontaneously grow in her blob of flour and water.

A few months ago I found my inner Dr. Frankenstein and decided I would try to create a living monster of sourness. To my amazement it worked. I continued to feed my little monster day and night and marvelled at the 100’s of bubbles that proved she was alive and well.

My little monster is doing well and has provided me with many wonderful loaves of bread!

So that got me thinking why we even need those little yellow packets of Fleischmann’s Yeast? I’m sure the first settlers didn’t have those little packages in their pantry. And because everything in my thought process goes back to wine, couldn’t I stomp on some grape and let the yeast in the air just do its work?

The answer is yes but not sure if it would be drinkable. Wine has been made for 1000’s of years and I would bet that’s how wine was discovered. Someone left their grape juice outside too long and voila- alcoholic grape juice!! Obviously winemaking has evolved, especially in the mid 1800’s when Louis Pasteur discovered the principals to microbial fermentation. Before this time, winemakers were just winging it and hoping for drinkable results. Once we discovered which particular yeasts made great wines, the final results were much more reliable. Microbiologist were able to discover that saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast could be cultured and produce wines in which total fermentation was completed. This is called Inoculated Fermentation.

Fast forward to winemaking of present day. There are many creative winemakers out there that believe that “Uninoculated” Fermentation is the future of winemaking. They are giving up some control in the fermentation process and kind of “winging it” like our ancestors.

Is it more difficult?

YES

Could these wines take a crazy path to the unknown?

YES

Could an entire batch of wine be ruined into funkiness that is beyond drinkable?

YES…..but

Could a winemaker end up with a wine that is smooth, rich, complex and has a textural mouthfeel you’ve been dreaming about…..

YES and that’s the whole point.

Wineries are becoming more aware of their responsibility to the land and the unique microflora that is part of it. If the winemaker can farm the vineyard in a more natural and organic way, then indigenous yeast will be part of that ecosystem and be a reflection of the terroir. Wines will not be as consistent each vintage and i don’t that’s a problem. The French alway talk about “terroir” and its importance for producing wines. Climate, soil and all the changing factors within each vineyard, influence the taste of the wine. That’s terroir. If a winemaker kills off all the micro organisms and non-saccharomyces yeast only to add cultured yeast for more consistent tasting wines…..that’s not terroir.

Science has evolved and wineries know more about the wild yeasts they’re dealing with. Analysis can be done on the wine at numerous times during the fermentation to make sure each stage is going down the path to heaven, not hell.

Now maybe a lot of consumers don’t care how their wine is made. On the other hand, there may be others that enjoy the idea of wild yeast fermentation, more natural methods, the minimization of SO2 and the reduction of interventions.

Here is my list of some wineries using indigenous yeast. By no means is this the entire list but definitely a jumpstart into wine on the wild side!