Strategies to Improve the Freshness in Wines from Warm Areas

Abstract

Trends in wine consumption are continuously changing. The latest in style is fresh wine with moderate alcohol content, high acidity, and primary aromas reminiscent of grapes, whereas certain fermentative volatiles may also influence the freshness of the wine. In addition, the effects of climate change on the composition of the grapes (high sugar content and low acidity) are adverse for the quality of the wine, also considering the microbiological stability. Herein, different strategies aiming at improving wine freshness are presented, and their performance in winemaking is discussed: among them, the addition of organic acids able to inhibit malolactic fermentation such as fumaric acid; the use of acidifying yeasts for alcoholic fermentation, such as Lachancea thermotolerans ; and the selection of non- Saccharomyces yeasts with β -glucosidase activity in order to release terpene glycosides present in the must.