%0 Journal Article %A Li Feng %A He Jia %A Jiaming Wang %A Yi Qin %A Yanlin Liu %A Yuyang Song %T Selection of Indigenous Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strains for Winemaking in Northwest China %D 2018 %R 10.5344/ajev.2018.18035 %J American Journal of Enology and Viticulture %P ajev.2018.18035 %X In order to avoid the risk of sluggish or stuck fermentation and quality deterioration caused by increasing sugar contents of grape in northwest China, the selection of indigenous Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains with excellent enological characteristics could be of great value for the local wine industry. For this purpose, 52 indigenous S. cerevisiae strains, isolated from five wine production regions of northwest China, were evaluated on important enological properties including stress tolerance, killer phenotype, hydrogen sulfide and foam production, and flocculation and fermentation rate. Micro- fermentations with eight preselected strains were performed on Cabernet Sauvignon. All selected strains were able to complete fermentations and the enochemical parameters were within the acceptable ranges of the wine industry. Four strains (XJ3, SAX2, SAX5, and SAX6) produced more concentration of esters than the control commercial strains, and the corresponding wines were highly regarded by the judges with the best sensory quality. The fermentation performance of these strains in high concentration of initial sugar was also analyzed. They could be used as starter cultures and the selected indigenous strains could potentially improve the regional character of the wine. Moreover, these strains may have potential to produce wines with high initial sugar content grape in Xinjiang or Ningxia region of northwest China. %U https://www.ajevonline.org/content/ajev/early/2018/12/13/ajev.2018.18035.full.pdf