A survey of Pinot Noir Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast populations and grape quality in three Okanagan Valley vineyard sub-regions

Wine is produced by fermenting sugars in grape juice to ethanol by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae). The major BC viticulture area is located in the Okanagan valley, a 200km region that runs from north to south, which aims to produce high quality wines that can be distinguished based on terroir. Terroir is a term that describes all the environmental factors that influence the wine including climate, terrain, soil, grape varietal and microbial populations. To fully express the terroir, winemakers carry out spontaneous fermentations that rely on microbial populations associated with the grape berry and winery to carry out the fermentation. Pinot Noir grapes are successfully cultivated along the Okanagan valley and represent an ideal varietal to study microbial populations associated with terroir. Our proposed research is to identify the yeast populations associated with Pinot Noir grapes from 3 regions of the Okanagan valley. TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

Vivien Measday

Student:

Elaine Cheng

Partner:

BC Wine Grape Council

Discipline:

Food science

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

Program: