Assessing the potential of endemic British Columbia yeast strains for fruit wine fermentation

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The Northern Lights Winery is the newest winery in British Columbia, and one of only a small handful that produces fruit wines rather than grape wines. An important part of Northern Lights' branding and growth strategy is to make use of fruit - particularly berries - that are indigenous to northern BC. All naturally occurring fruit is associated with a variety of natural strains of yeast, single-celled fungi that convert fruit sugars into ethanol. Northern Lights is interested in the possibility that the yeast strains naturally associated with the fruit they harvest may have desirable properties for commercial fermentation - either in terms of being well matched to the characteristics of the fruit, or in producing flavour profiles that consumers enjoy. Since little is known about the naturally occurring fruit yeast of northern BC, we propose to isolate yeast from a variety of different fruits and locations, identify the strains using genetic and microbiological techniques, and assess their properties during fermentation. The Northern Lights Winery anticipates that this information will be valuable in making decisions about which yeast to use for fermentation, and potentially for introducing new strains with beneficial properties to winemakers and brewers.