Terrior now proven to include yeast, at least in New Zealand

Researchers at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland have detected distinct differences between indigenous yeast strains in different regions. It’s widely accepted that the interaction of climatic, geographic and soil conditions with different grape varieties serves to make regionally distinctive wines but for the first time, these findings suggest that yeasts could be part of that regional influence and of wine’s terroir too.

The study investigated yeasts present on Chardonnay and Syrah grapes, and their spontaneous ferments, in vineyards in three distinct wine regions in New Zealand. At present the research is confined to New Zealand but it is suspected that the same story will be true in other parts of the world.

The researchers said that the next steps were to discover what was driving the differences; to identify yeasts responsible for specific aromas and flavours that could contribute to a regional signature, and discover when New Zealand’s genetically distinct yeast population arrived in the country.