Acetate ester formation in wine by mixed cultures in laboratory fermentations

Two non-Saccharomyces wine yeast strains, Hanseniaspora guilliermondii 11104 and Pichia anomala 10590, selected as good producers of acetate esters when grown on synthetic microbiological medium, have been tested in wine fermentations as mixed cultures together with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Wines produced using mixed cultures showed levels of acetaldehyde, acetic acid, glycerol and total higher alcohols within the ranges described for wine, whereas an increase in acetate ester concentrations was found. Ethyl acetate was the main ester produced, and isoamyl acetate and 2-phenylethyl acetate made up the next largest group of ester compounds in the wines analysed. H. guilliermondii 11104 was found to be a strong producer of 2-phenylethyl acetate in both pure and mixed cultures whereas S. cerevisiae was the best producer of ethyl esters. Mixed cultures did not influence ethyl ester levels at all.