Volatile flavour profile of reduced alcohol wines fermented with the non-conventional yeast species Metschnikowia pulcherrima and Saccharomyces uvarum

•Two non-conventional yeast species produce reduced-alcohol wines.•Depending on yeast reduced-alcohol wines did not show negative flavour profiles.•These wines showed high concentration of compounds related to ‘fruity’ attributes.•Non-conventional yeast can produce reduced-alcohol wine with diverse flavour profile. Production of quality wines with decreased alcohol concentration continues to be one of the major challenges facing wine producers. Therefore, there is considerable interest in the isolation or generation of wine yeasts less efficient at transforming grape sugars into ethanol. We recently demonstrated that Metschnikowia pulcherrima AWRI1149 and Saccharomyces uvarum AWRI2846 were both able to produce reduced alcohol wine when used in sequential inoculation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This effect is additive when both strains are co-inoculated in grape must. Here we describe the volatile flavour profile of Chardonnay and Shiraz wines produced with these two strains. Wines fermented with M. pulcherrima showed concentrations of ethyl acetate likely to affect negatively wine aroma. Wines fermented with S. uvarum and with a combination of M. pulcherrima and S. uvarum were characterised by increased concentrations of 2-phenyl ethanol and 2-phenylethyl acetate, both associated with positive sensory attributes.