The complexity of wine: clarifying the role of microorganisms

Abstract

The concept of wine complexity has gained considerable interest in recent years, both for wine consumers and wine scientists. As a consequence, some research programs concentrate on the factors that could improve the perceived complexity of a wine. Notably, the possible influence of microbiological factors is particularly investigated. However, wine complexity is a multicomponent concept not easily defined. In this review, we first describe the actual knowledge regarding wine complexity, its perception, and wine chemical composition. In particular, we emphasize that, contrary to expectations, the perception of wine complexity is not related to wine chemical complexity. Then, we review the impact of wine microorganisms on wine complexity, with a specific focus on publications including sensory analyses. While microorganisms definitively can impact wine complexity, the underlying mechanisms and molecules are far from being deciphered. Finally, we discuss some prospective research fields that will help improving our understanding of wine complexity, including perceptive interactions, microbial interactions, and other challenging phenomena.

The impact of grape processing and carbonic maceration on the microbiota of early stages of winemaking

“…The analysis of the microbiological data allows some consideration about the oenological implication of the observed evolution of microbiota. The evolution of the yeast population seems to follow the trend already observed by many authors (Tempere et al ), while in the case of bacteria we observed the presence of a remarkable biodiversity that differs from data reported in the literature (Bartowsky ; Pinto et al ; Liu et al ). Usually it is believed that in wine only lactic and acetic acid bacteria are capable of surviving.…”

Oenological Impact of the Hanseniaspora/Kloeckera Yeast Genus on Wines—A Review

“…More recently, NS wine yeasts have received special attention by winemakers due to the search of different and desired oenological characteristics, compared to SC commercial strains. Diverse secondary metabolic pathways and higher enzymatic activities (esterases, β-glycosidases, lipases, and proteases), result in sensory complexity [1,51,52] that might contribute to an increased diversity of 'flavor phenotypes'. The 'flavor phenotype' is an interesting concept for yeast selection, considering that now more than 1300 volatile compounds can be determined in wine [2,53].…”

Effect of strains from different <i>Saccharomyces</i> species used in different inoculation schemes on chemical composition and sensory characteristics of Sauvignon blanc wine

“…Furthermore, the wine market's demand for wines with increased sensory properties, such as aromatic complexity and varietal typicity, has turned interest towards non-Saccharomyces (nSc) and other nonconventional yeast species (Fleet, 2008;Sadoudi et al, 2012;Albertin et al, 2019). The nSc yeasts are characterised by high genetic diversity,and some species and strains can be detrimental to wine quality, while others can be beneficial (Renault et al, 2009;Tempère et al, 2018). Representative genera of the latter category detected in early fermentations are Metschnikowia, Candida, Hanseniaspora, Rhodotorula and Pichia (König and Berkelmann-Löhnertz, 2017).…”