Lactic acid reduces off aromas, allergic reactions: study
July 16, 2009
Panos Kakaviatos
People who suffer allergic reactions to wine could soon be happily drinking their favourite cru classe, a study has found.
According to the study, carried out at Bordeaux University, adding lactic bacteria to the wine must could reduce the compounds – biogenic amines – that create off aromas, and induce allergies in some wine consumers.
The study evaluated 264 Bordeaux wines from the 2005 and 2006 vintages.
Bordeaux University enology professor Patrick Lucas told the French publication Viti-Net that 'less than 3% of the wines contained no biogenic amines. 70% contained substantial amounts often beyond 1 milligram per litre.'
Tests indicated that adding lactic bacteria to the must in the successful reduction of biogenic amines and undesirable bacteria. It also promoted quicker malolactic fermentation.
'It is a very interesting study,' Jean-Michel Laporte of Chateau La Conseillante in Pomerol said.
But the method could be costly for some estates, Laporte told decanter.com. La Conseillante invested about €700 to add lactic bacteria to the must during alcoholic fermentation for the 2008 vintage.
'We did not know about the potential positive effects at the time. We needed the wine to go through both alcoholic and malolactic fermentation more quickly because of the construction of a new cellar,' he explained.
'My oenologist since told me about the potential positive effects, that the wine could be cleaner by adding the lactic bacteria either at the very beginning of the alcoholic fermentation or just at the end,' Laporte said.
Normally malolactic fermentation occurs naturally, but by inducing it to take place just after alcoholic fermentation, the process takes place more quickly.
Have your say... To post your comment on this story, email us at news@decanter.com
I'm confused. I thought lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were responsible for the
formation of biogenic amines. I've read that natural LAB result in greater
concentrations of biogenic amines than commercially produced strains. If the
findings of this study indicate that lower levels of biogenic amines result from
the use of commercial strains of LAB, there seems to be nothing new here. Am I
missing something?
Kent Benson, St. Cloud, MN USA
The title of this article is wrong, as well as the explainations after. The study is not about the addition of lactic acid, or the addition of any lactic acid bacterias, but about the addition of selected lactic acid bacterias. These bacterias were selected because they don't generate biogenic amines. So their addition to the must is made in order for these selected lactic bacterias to compete and overtake indigeneous one who are producing biogenic amines.
Claude Vaillancourt, Montréal
Register on decanter.com absolutely free for news alerts delivered direct to your email inbox, and our fortnightly newsletter with advance notice of what’s coming up in Decanter magazine, offers, competitions and more.
PLUS registration is a one-stop shop for the Decanter magazine Archive and Decanter Fine Wine Tracker.
