Effect of ascorbic acid and yeast strain on sauvignon blanc wine quality

CITATION: Swart, E., Marais, J. & Britz, T. J. 2001. Effect of ascorbic acid and yeast strain on sauvignon blanc wine quality. South African Journal of Enology & Viticulture, 22(1):41-46, doi:10.21548/22-1-2166.The original publication is available at http://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/sajevSauvignon blanc cultivar-typical aroma is affected by different components of which 2-methoxy-3-isobutylpyrazine and 4-mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-one are probably the most important. Climatic, viticultural and oenological conditions may have a prominent effect on the levels at which these impact aroma components occur in wine. Sauvignon blanc wines were produced from grapes from two climatically different regions. Different ascorbic acid/S02 combinations and different Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains were used during the production of the wines. The wines were sensorially evaluated for specific wine characteristics, namely fruity/ester aroma intensity, grassy/green pepper aroma intensity, sulphur-like aroma intensity and overall wine quality. Significant differences were observed between treatments. A commercially available preparate (ascorbic acid/meta-bisulphite) and yeast strain VL3C produced sulphur-like, low-quality wines under the conditions of this investigation. The highest quality wines were produced from pure ascorbic acid/S02 treatments and fermentation by the yeast strain VIN 13.http://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/sajev/article/view/2166Publisher's versio