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During the last decade, the use of innovative yeast cultures of both Saccharomyces cerevisiae and non-Saccharomyces yeasts as alternative tools to manage the winemaking process have turned the oenology industry. Although the contribution of different yeast species to wine quality during fermentation is increasingly understood, information about their role in wine ageing over lees is really scarce. This work aims to analyse the incidence of three non-Saccharomyces yeast species of oenological interest (Torulaspora delbrueckii, Lachancea thermotolerans and Metschnikowia pulcherrima) and of a commercial mannoprotein-overproducer S. cerevisiae strain compared with a conventional industrial yeast strain during wine ageing over lees. To evaluate their incidence in mouthfeel properties of wine after 4 months of ageing, the mannoprotein content of wines was evaluated, together with other wine analytic parameters, such as colour and aroma, biogenic amines and amino acids profile. Some differences among the studied parameters were observed during the study, especially regarding the mannoprotein concentration of wines. Our results suggest that the use of T. delbrueckii lees in wine ageing is a useful tool for the improvement of overall wine quality by notably increasing mannoproteins, reaching values higher than obtained using a S. cerevisiae overproducer strain. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The fermentation of grape must using non‐Saccharomyces yeasts with particular metabolic and biochemical properties is of growing interest. In the present work, red grape must was fermented using four strains of Schizosaccharomyces pombe (935, 936, 938 and 2139), Saccharomyces cerevisiae 7VA and Saccharomyces uvarum S6U, and comparisons were made over the fermentation period in terms of must sugar (glucose + fructose), malic acid, acetic acid, ammonia, primary amino nitrogen, lactic acid, urea (a possible fermentation activator or precursor of other metabolites) and pyruvic acid (a molecule affecting vitisin formation and therefore colour stability) concentration. The colour intensity of the fermenting musts was also recorded. The Schizosaccharomyces strains consumed less primary amino nitrogen and produced less urea and more pyruvic acid than other Saccharomyces species. Further, three of the four Schizosaccharomyces strains completed the breakdown of malic acid by day 4 of fermentation. The main negative effect of the use of Schizosaccharomyces was strong acetic acid production. The Schizosaccharomyces strains that produced most pyruvic acid (938 and 936) were associated with better ‘wine’ colour than the remaining yeasts. The studied Schizosaccharomyces could therefore be of oenological interest.