Winemaking from Gaglioppo grapes with hybrid strains of Saccharomyces

The fermentative behavior of two hybrid wine yeast strains (first-generation hybrid-strain 12,233 x 6167--obtained by hybridization of the cryotolerant strain S. bayanus 12,233 with the mesophilic strains S. cerevisiae 6167, and TT254 x 6392 arising by hybridization of the thermotolerant strain S. cerevisiae TT254 with the mesophilic strain S. cerevisiae 6392) was compared with that of a commercial wine yeast strain S. cerevisiae K1 in must from black grapes of the Calabrian variety Gaglioppo. The goal was to obtain wines with a high content of 'polyphenols' from a grape must with a limited phenolic content such as the Gaglioppo must. The progress of the winemaking was estimated according to residual sugars; at the end of fermentation, the wines were decanted, bottled and principal physico-chemical characteristics determined. Our results point to the possibility to select wine yeasts (significantly differing in the above parameters) by their ability to interact with phenolic compounds.