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A wild West Auckland yeast that lifts the fruity zing of New Zealand "sav" has been harnessed by researchers - a find that could revolutionise the country's sauvignon blanc industry.
The yeast lifts the gooseberry and passionfruit flavours of New Zealand's esteemed sauvignon blancs, lead researcher Dr Matthew Goddard of Auckland University said, and it was commercially viable.
But one wine expert suggested more fruity zing might be like adding more sugar to Coca-Cola.
Commercial trials of the yeast will begin within the next two weeks on a handful of Marlborough vineyards, including Saint Clair, Delegat's and Pernod-Ricard New Zealand.
The yeast, Pichia kluyveri, was discovered three years ago when samples of the juice in chardonnay settling tanks at Kumeu River vineyard were collected, transported to a laboratory and grown on Petri dishes.
The find came as part of a six-year, $9.6 million Government-funded project looking at specific characteristics of New Zealand sauvignon blanc.
Although the yeast does not produce great volumes of alcohol, when combined with traditional wine-making Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast, the result is a more fruity, aromatic sauvignon blanc than is available, Dr Goddard said.
Traditionally, many New Zealand winemakers have imported commercially available yeast to cause the sugar in grape juice to ferment, creating alcohol and flavour.
But there is a worldwide drive to increase the fruity, aromatic qualities in sauvignon blanc.
Dr Goddard said New Zealand was a "step ahead" of the pack in this quest, with its research and upcoming trials of the new yeast.
Wine writer Joelle Thomson said the discovery was "great news for New Zealand wine".
It allowed wines traditionally lacking in gooseberry or passionfruit flavours to gain those qualities with ease.
But the Weekend Herald canvas magazine wine writer John Hawkesby said enhancing the gooseberry flavour could be doing New Zealand wines a disservice.
"Some winemakers are actually trying to do the opposite to get a more subtle, sophisticated flavour," he said.
"Adding more fruity flavour could be like adding more sugar to Coca-Cola. We don't want all wines to taste the same, as though they've come off a conveyor belt."
Dr Goddard said the discovery was "absolutely commercially viable" and had been patented.
"I think it is very exciting, because it uses a non-genetically modified natural product. It's harnessing nature, and that really fits with the clean green New Zealand image."
Other countries were now using genetically modified yeast in some wines, and New Zealand needed to separate itself from that, he said.
New Zealand wine, although making up only 0.5 per cent of world-wide wine sales, enjoyed a 10 per cent slice of the lucrative fine wine market, he said.
"We don't make much wine, but what we do make is bloody good. And we've got to keep inventing tools for our winemakers to keep ahead of the field," Dr Goddard said.
However, the yeast's commercial success would hinge on researchers discovering how to produce enough of it for constant commercial use.
That was being worked on now, and wine lovers could expect to see the first samples of the new wine on shelves within 18 months, he said.
WILD YEAST
* Lifts the gooseberry and passionfruit flavours of "sav"
* Considered commercially viable and has been patented
* First samples could be on the shelves in 18 months
