Nature’s most interesting wild yeast delivers intense flavors, elegance and freshness to wines.

VINIFLORA® FROOTZEN® is based on a selected strain of the wine yeast Pichia kluyveri found naturally in New Zealand grape juice. This Pichia yeast product helps wineries meet consumer demands for natural, authentic and fruitier wines.

This yeast should be used in sequential inoculation, where FROOTZEN® is inoculated first, and 2 days later, (when the fermentation temperature is approx. 18–19C) a second yeast is inoculated (generally a Saccharomyces cerevisiae), as FROOTZEN® cannot support more than 4 to 5% alcohol. This scheme of 2 sequential inoculations mimic what happen in a wild ferment, bringing the best of two worlds: the complexity of successful wild fermentation with the safety and technical security of a controlled, alcoholic fermentation with selected strains.

FROOTZEN® is a double breakthrough innovation for winemakers:

It is the first ever commercial product based on a selected strain of the natural Pichia kluyveri wine yeast, a non-Saccharomyces yeast found in 'wild ferments' and selected for its ability to boost fruit flavors through a more efficient use of flavor precursors naturally present in grape skins and converted by yeasts during the alcoholic fermentation into volatile thiols, potent fruity compounds that produce passion fruit and tropical aromas in white wine and blackcurrant aroma in red wine (Figure 1 and Figure 2). In fact, FROOTZEN® is the most potent thiol producing non-Saccharomyces yeast on the market (Figure 1).

It is the first ever 'frozen yeast for winemakers.' An innovative production process allows Chr. Hansen to be able to deliver a wine yeast winemakers can inoculate directly into their must: no more rehydration, no more acclimation, no need to check water temperature, less risk of errors during yeast rehydration and, finally, fewer stuck or sluggish ferments! Now that’s fantastic news for winemakers.

 FROOTZEN® is particularly suitable for white and rosé wines, but recently some new tests have demonstrated how interesting it also is for developing well-balanced, elegant red wines (Figures 1, 2 and 3).

FROOTZEN® delivers very elegant red wines, thanks to its ability to boost thiols in Cabernet-Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah (Shiraz), Merlot or Pinot Noir and high fruit intensity rosé and white wines.

FROOTZEN® is unique on the market and unmatched in terms of converting flavor precursors.

Figure 1. Effect of Pichia kluyveri (Pk) on the volatile thiol concentrations of Chilean Sauvignon blanc. The co-inoculation of FROOTZEN® resulted in more volatile thiols (3-MH = mercaptohexanol and 3-MHA = mercaptohexyl acetate), compared co-inoculation with Metschnikowia.

Figure 2. Effect of Pichia kluyveri (FROOTZEN®) on thiol production in Pinot noir from Chile (2014)

Figure 3. Sensory profile of FROOTZEN® (test) in Pinot noir from Chile (2014) with a significant amount of blackcurrant flavor

https://www.chr-hansen.com/en/food-cultures-and-enzymes/fermented-beverages/cards/product-cards/frootzen-first-ever-pichia-kluyveri-yeast