Breakthrough in New Zealand wine production (NZ)

Climate, soil and geography have long been recognised playing an important role in shaping the character of a region’s wines and whose interplay is at the heart of the French concept of terroir. However, a breakthrough by New Zealand scientists now suggests that an area’s yeasts could play their part in regional differences as well, with the discovery that communities and strains of wine yeasts vary from region to region. In the light of these findings, winemakers wanting to make wines most expressive of a specific place might want to dispense with generic yeasts from a packet and let nature take control of their ferments, writes Jo Burzynsca in The New Zealand Herald.